BV  3777  .G5  N3  1875 

Narrative  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey's  labors  in 


NARRATIVE    OF 

Messrs.  MOODY  AND  SANKEY'S 

LABORS   IN 

GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   IRELAND, 


WITH 


ELEVEN  ADDRESSES  AND  LECTURES  IN  FULL. 


New  and  Complete  Edition. 


No  other  ^pullished  account  of  the  Geeat  Awakening  is  more  complete,  while 
no  other  has  Verhatim  Rejports  of  Addresses. 


ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  COMPANY, 

770    BROADWAY,    NEW    YORK. 
1875- 


copyright,  1875,  by 
Anson  D,  F.  Randolph  &  Company 


ROBERT     HUTT6H, 

B'NDER, 
14    ItEKMAN     STKEET,   ».     T. 


EDWARD    0.    JENKINS, 

PRINTER   AND   STEREOTYPES 

II  NOKTH  WItUAM   IT.,   N.  T. 


NOTE. 
I. 


The  following  Narrative  of  the  Religious  Awakening  in  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  has  been  compiled  from  the  voluminous  correspondence  of 
the  British   Evangelist,  and   The   Christian,  two  weekly  journals 

published  in  London. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  Narrative  it  was  found  necessary  to  .^ 
condense  the  original  matter,  in  order  to  bring  the  volume  within 
reasonable  limits.  The  aim  of  the  editor,  however,  has  been  to  present 
a  consecutive  account  of  the  development  and  progress  of  the  work  in 
each  of  the  places  where  it  was  prosecuted,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
American  reader  will,  in  these  pages,  obtain  something  like  a  compre- 
nensive  view  of  this  wonderful  movement,  and  its  immediate  and  marvel- 
ous results. 

It  is  the  design  of  the  present  publishers  to  issue  in  April  or  May,  a 
supplementary  pamphlet,  which  shall  embrace  an  account  of  the  subse- 
quent  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  in  other  parts  of  England. 

February,  1875. 


II. 

The  Supplementary  Issue,  which  now  follows  page  122  of  this 
volume,  has  been  enlarged,  and  brings  down  the  Narrative  to  the  close 
of  the  work  in  England. 

October,  1875. 


INTRODUCTIQN... 

"X    *■  '-"  **  '■^  ^^ 


MESSRS.   MOODY  AND   SANKEY. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THEIR  WORK. 


IT  is  for  obvious  reasons  desirable,  when 
strangers  like  Messrs.  Moody  and  San- 
key  are  exciting  so  much  interest,  and 
producing  so  great  an  impression,  that  the 
public  should  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
circumstances  that  have  brought  them  into 
the  position  which  they  now  occupy.  It 
ought  to  be  known  that  they  have  not  run 
unsent,  and  have  not  taken  upon  them- 
selves, without  due  cause,  the  responsibil- 
ity of  the  work  which  they  are  now  carry- 
ing on.  A  brief  sketch  of  the  chief  facts 
in  Mr.  Moody's  life  will  show  clearly  how 
this  matter  stands. 

Mr.  Moody  was  born  in  the  year  1837, 
in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  in  the 
district  which  was  the  scene  of  the  great 
awakening,under  Jonathan  Edwards,  about 
a  hundred  years  before.  But  so  far  from 
his  inheriting  anything  from  that  remark- 
able movement,  he  had  not  even  heard 
the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  till  he  was 
about  seventeen  years  of  age.  Going  about 
that  time  to  Boston,  to  be  trained  for  busi- 
ness in  the  establishment  of  an  uncle,  he 
one  day  went  into  the  church  of  Dr.  Kirk, 
a  Congregational  minister  in  that  city. 
There,  for  the  first  time,  he  listened  to  an 
evangelical  sermon.  It  had  the  effect  of 
making  him  uncomfortable,  and  he  resolv- 
ed not  to  go  back.  He  felt  that  his  heart 
had  been  laid  bare,  and  he  wondered  who 
had  told  the  preacher  about  him.  Some- 
thing, however,  induced  him  to  go  back 
next  Sunday,  and  the  impression  was  re- 
newed. A  Sunday-school  teacher  in  whose 
class  he  had  been,  having  come  to  see  him 
and  ask  for  him  at  his  place  of  business, 
he  opened  up  his  mind  to  him,  and  he 
was  enabled  to  enter  into  that  peace  and 
joy  in  believing  to  which  he  has  been  the 
instrument  of  introducing  so  many. 

Not  very  long  after  this,  Mr.  Moody  left 
Boston  and  proceeded  to  Chicago,  where 
he  entered  into  business  for  himself.  Be- 
ing full  of  the  desire  to  be  useful,  he  went 


into  a  Sunday-school,  and  asked  the  super- 
intendent if  he  would  give  him  a  class.  In 
this  school  there  were  twelve  teachers  and 
sixteen  pupils  ;  and  the  answer  to  his  ap- 
plication was  that  if  he  could  gather  a  class 
for  himself  he  would  be  allowed  to  teach 
them.  Mr.  Moody  went  out  into  the  streets, 
and  by  personal  application,  succeeded  in 
bringing  in  a  score  of  boys.  He  enjoyed 
so  much  the  work  of  bringing  in  recruits, 
that  instead  of  teaching  the  class  himself, 
he  handed  it  over  to  another  teacher,  and 
so  on,  until  he  had  filled  the  school.  Then 
he  began  to  entertain  the  notion  of  having 
a  school  of  his  own.  He  went  to  work  in 
a  neglected  part  of  the  city.  Sunday  is 
the  day  devoted  by  many  to  concerts, 
balls,  and  pleasure  generally.  Mr.  Moody 
saw  that  to  succeed  in  such  a  population, 
a  school  must  be  exceedingly  lively  and 
attractive,  and  as  he  observed  that  the 
Germans  made  constant  use  of  music  in 
their  meetings,  he  was  led  to  consider 
whether  music  might  not  be  employed 
somewhat  prominently  in  the  service  of 
Christ.  Not  being  himself  a  singer,  he 
got  a  friend  who  could  sing  to  help  him, 
and  for  the  first  few  evenings  the  time  was 
spent  between  singing  hymns  and  telling 
stories  to  the  children,  so  as  to  awaken 
their  interest  and  induce  them  to  return. 
A  hold  having  in  this  way  been  established, 
the  school  was  divided  into  classes,  and 
conducted  more  in  the  usual  way. 

This  school  became  the  basis  of  wider 
operations.  After  a  time  a  lively  interest 
in  divine  things  began  to  appear  among 
the  children.  This  led  to  the  holding  of 
meetings  every  night,  and  to  the  offering 
of  prayers  and  delivery  of  addresses  suit- 
able to  the  circumstances  of  the  children. 
These  meetings  began  to  be  attended  also 
by  the  parents,  some  of  whom  shared  the 
blessing.  It  may  be  stated  here  that  some 
of  those  young  persons  who  were  converted 
at  this  time,  remain  to  the  present  day  the 
(5) 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 


most  valuable  and  active  coadjutors  in  the 
work  with  which  Mr.  Moody  is  associated 
in  Chicago. 

In  most  cases  neither  the  children  nor 
their  parents  had  hitherto  been  connected 
with  any  Christian  Church.  Mr.  Moody 
began  to  find  himself  constrained  to  sup- 
ply them  with  spiritual  food.  At  first  he 
encouraged  them  to  connect  themselves 
with  other  congregations.  But  it  was 
found  that  in  these  they  were  next  to  lost 
or  swallowed  up :  they  felt  themselves 
strangers,  sometimes  unwelcome  strangers, 
while  they  lost  all  the  benefit  of  neigh- 
borhood, mutual  interest,  and  combina- 
tion in  the  worship  of  God.  Gradually, 
therefore,  Mr.  Moody  felt  shut  up  to  tak- 
ing charge  of  them,  and  supplying  them 
with  Christian  instruction.  Both  school 
and  church  continued  to  increase,  the 
school  amounting  to  about  a  thousand, 
and  suitable  buildings  were  erected  through 
the  liberality  of  friends.  Mr.  Moody  had 
by  this  time  given  up  business,  so  that  he 
might  be  free  to  give  his  whole  time  and 
attention  to  the  work.  As  he  felt  himself 
called  by  the  Lord  to  this  step,  he  re- 
solved to  decline  all  salary  or  allowance 
from  any  quarter,  and  trust  for  his  main- 
tenance solely  to  what  it  might  be  put  into 
the  hearts  of  God's  people  to  contribute. 
Being  quite  destitute  of  private  means, 
this  resolution  showed  that  his  faith  in  a 
divine  call  to  give  himself  to  Christian 
work  was  capable  of  bearing  a  great  strain. 
At  the  same  time,  while  adopting  this 
course  for  himself,  he  has  never  pressed  it 
upon  others,  unless  they  should  clearly 
see  it  to  be  their  duty.  And  while  be- 
lieving himself  called  to  a  kind  of  supple- 
mentary work  in  the  ministry,  he  is  very 
far  from  prescribing  the  same  role  to 
others.  On  the  contrary,  he  is  the  steady 
friend  of  a  regular  ministry,  being  fully 
persuaded  that  in  "  ordaining  elders  in 
every  city,"  the  apostles  meant  to  set  up 
the  permanent  platform  of  the  Christian 
Church.  Mr.  Moody  is  delighted  to  obtain 
the  co-operation  of  the  clergy;  and  among 
the  many  subjects  of  congratulation  and 
thankfulness  which  his  visit  to  Edinburgh 
has  supplied,  one  of  the  most  important 
has  been,  that  from  the  very  first  he  has 
been  received  most  readily  by  the  minis- 
ters, and  has  obtained  from  all  denomina- 
tions very  cordial  support.  The  clergy 
have  shown  by  this  that  they  take  the 
same  view  substantially  as  Mr.  Moody 
himself  of  the  relation  of  the  regular  to 


the  irregular  ministry.  While  believing 
the  ministry  to  be  a  divine  institution, 
they  do  not  believe  that  it  monopolizes  the 
grace  of  God  for  the  conversion  of  men 
and  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church.  God 
may  move  out  of  the  regular  course,  and 
often  does  to  show  His  sovereignty  and  to 
impress  the  truth.  "  Not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord." 

Mr.  Moody  had  acquired  a  position  of 
much  influence  in  the  United  States  in 
connection  with  Sunday-school  and  mis- 
sion work,  when  the  war  broke  out  be- 
tween North  and  South.  This  led  to  a 
new  turn  being  given  to  his  labors.  There 
was  a  large  camp  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Chicago,  to  which  he  gave  much  attention, 
going  there  night  after  night  and  striving 
to  bring  the  soldiers  under  the  influence 
of  divine  grace.  When  the  Christian 
Commission  was  organized,  under  the 
presidency  of  his  friend,  George  H.  Stuart, 
of  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Moody  became  one 
of  his  most  energetic  coadjutors.  He  did 
not  go  into  the  army  as  an  agent  of  the 
Commission,  but  he  was  President  of  the 
Executive  branch  for  Chicago,  and  nine 
different  times  he  went  to  one  or  other 
of  the  scenes  of  warfare,  remaining  some 
weeks  and  working  with  all  his  might. 
These  services  with  the  army  were  of  no 
little  use,  not  only  in  producing  direct 
fruit,  but  also  in  developing  that  prompt 
and  urgent  method  of  dealing  with  men, 
that  strenuous  endeavor  to  get  them  to 
accept  immediate  salv.ation,  which  is  still 
so  conspicuous  a  feature  of  his  mode  of 
address.  With  wounded  men  hovering 
between  life  and  death,  or  with  men  in 
march,  resting  for  an  evening  in  some 
place  which  they  were  to  leave  to-morrow, 
it  was  plainly,  so  far  at  least  as  he  was  con- 
cerned, the  alternative  of  "  now  or  never;" 
and  as  he  could  not  allow  himself  or  allow 
them  to  be  satisfied  with  the  "  never,"  he 
bent  his  whole  energies  to  the  "now." 

Mr.  Moody's  labors  in  the  army  were 
often  much  blessed.  Of  all  his  campaigns 
of  this  kind  there  was  none  on  which  he 
looked  back  with  more  pleasure  than  one 
in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  in  connection 
with  troops  under  the  command  of  Gene- 
ral Howard.  That  General  being  in  the 
fullest  sympathy  with  Mr.  Moody,  their 
work  together  was  very  earnest  and  much 
blessed. 

The  war  being  ended,  Mr-  Moody  had 
more  time  to  develop  his  work  in  Chicago. 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 


To  set  others  to  work  in  the  vineyard  had 
long  been  one  of  his  chief  aims,  and  by 
means  of  the  Yomig  Men's  Christian  As- 
iociation,  in  which  he  took  a  great  inter- 
est, he  was  highly  successful.  It  is  to  be 
observed,  that  in  America  these  associa- 
tions are  much  larger  and  more  influential 
than  they  usually  are  in  this  country,  and 
that  their  operations  ramify  over  a  much 
more  extensive  sphere.  Mr.  Moody  strove 
to  inspire  the  Chicago  Association  with 
his  own  spirit,  and  to  send  them  to  work 
in  the  vineyard.  The  hall  of  the  asso- 
ciation became  one  of  the  stated  scenes 
of  his  own  labors.  The  association  was 
very  unfortunate  in  the  matter  of  fires — 
its  first  building  having  been  burnt  down 
in  1867,  and  its  second  in  the  great  fire  of 
Chicago  in  187 1.  According  to  Mr.  David 
Macrae,  "  the  lightning  city  "  showed  such 
activity  of  movement  that  the  money  for 
the  second  building  was  all  subscribed  be- 
fore the  fire  had  completed  the  destruction 
of  the  first.  This,  we  believe,  is  some- 
what hyperbolical ;  but  in  sober  truth,  the 
arrangements  for  the  restoration  of  the 
building  after  the  first  fire  were  made  with 
wonderful  rapidity.  The  new  building 
contained  a  hall  of  enormous  size.  Mr. 
Moody  was  accustomed  to  preach  to  his 
own  people  in  the  morning,  to  superintend 
a  Sunday-school  of  about  a  thousand  in 
the  afternoon,  and  to  preach  again  in  the 
evening  in  the  hall  of  the  Young  Men's 
Association. 

In  October,  1871,  occurred  the  terrible 
fire  which  destroyed  a  great  part  of  Chi- 
cago. Mr.  Moody,  with  his  wife  and  two 
children,  was  roused  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  to  find  the  fierce  fire  approaching 
their  dwelling,  and,  leaving  his  house  and 
household  gear  to  their  fate  (all  the  prop- 
erty he  possessed),  had  to  hurry  along  to 
seek  shelter  in  the  houses  of  friends.  Mr. 
Moody's  school  and  church,  as  well  as  the 
buildings  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  perished  likewise  in  the  con- 
flagration. The  feelings  of  himself  and 
his  fellow-citizens,  on  _going  to  see  the 
ruins,  can  hardly  be  conceived.  But  after 
the  first  stunning  sensation  was  got  over, 
faith  and  hope  revived.  In  one  month 
after  the  fire,  a  temporary  erection  was 
completed  !  No  small  energy  must  have 
been  required  to  accomplish  this,  amid  the 
confusion,  the  bustle,  and  the  infinity  of 
things  that  had  to  be  attended  to.  But 
reared  the  wooden  building  was,  and  it 
has   served   the   purpose  of  church   and 


school  till  now,  when  a  new  and  substan- 
tial building  is  sufficiently  advanced  to 
allow  the  basement  story  to  be  used  for 
public  services. 

Besides  what  he  did  for  his  own  place 
of  meeting,  Mr.  Moody  took  an  active 
part  in  putting  things  in  order  after  the 
fire.  As  President  of  the  Young  Men's 
Association,  and  having  under  him  a  staff 
of  active  workers,  he  received  the  contri- 
butions of  many  friends.  Among  the 
rest,  the  sum  contributed  by  Edinburgh, 
approaching,  if  we  remember  rightly,  to 
;^2,ooo,  v/as  consigned  to  the  care  of  the 
Mayor  and  himself.  He  fully  shared  in 
the  feeling  of  affectionate  gratitude  which 
the  ready  help  of  this  country  on  that  oc- 
casion inspired.  Many  were  moved  to 
tears  by  that  token  of  good-will  and  sym- 
pathy ;  it  was  hardly  credible  to  them  that 
Great  Britain  should  be  hastening  to  their 
help.  There  is  less  danger  now  of  such 
men  misunderstanding  the  real  feeling  of 
England  towards  the  United  States. 

It  was  shortly  before  the  fire  that  Mr. 
Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  began  to  work 
together.  Mr.  Sankey  was  in  business 
somewhere  in  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr. 
Moody,  happening  on  some  public  occa- 
sion to  sit  near  him,  was  attracted  by  his 
beautiful  voice.  The  thought  struck  him 
that  Mr.  Sankey  would  be  a  valuable  as- 
sistant to  him  in  many  ways,  in  the  Sun- 
day-school, in  the  church,  and  in  the 
training  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  He  accordingly  entered  into 
an  engagement  with  him,  and  he  has  come 
with  Mr.  Moody  to  this  country  to  help 
him  in  his  work  by  conducting  "  The  Ser- 
vice of  Song."  Mr.  Moody  has  always 
been  eager  to  secure  music — and  especial- 
ly good  music — as  an  aid  in  preaching  the 
gospel.  It  is  his  belief  that  the  gospel 
may  be  presented  in  song  as  well  as  in 
speech,  and  that  while  the  song  has  a  mar- 
velously  attractive  power,  it  is  also  fitted 
to  express  better  than  plain  speech  the 
emotion  suitable  to  the  truths  of  the  gos- 
pel. Abhorring  the  notion  of  providing  a 
musical  entertainment  merely  to  please 
those  who  are  not  in  the  kingdom  of 
God,  he  seeks  to  move  their  hearts  and 
win  them  to  Christ  by  truth  expressed 
in  the  most  winning  tones.  The  idea  of 
profaning  the  worship  of  God  by  utter- 
ing sacred  words  not  felt  by  the  singer, 
would  be  revolting ;  but  it  must  occur  to 
every  one  who  has  heard  Mr.  Sankey  that 
the  charm  of  his  service  is  in  the  blending 


8 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 


of  his  heart  with  his  song.  There  is  not 
only  no  similarity,  but  an  absolute  con- 
trast between  Mr.  Sankey's  hymns  and 
the  performances  of  paid  professional 
singers,  who  will  often  sing  the  most  sa- 
cred words,  not  because  they  are  feeling 
them,  but  to  let  the  audience  hear  how 
well  they  can  sing.  It  is  also  in  subser- 
vience to  spiritual  ends  that  Mr.  Sankey 
uses  the  harmonium.  It  has  been  found 
quite  compatible  with  spiritual  and  hearty 
worship ;  and  the  probability  is,  that  at 
extra  meetings,  for  Sabbath-schools,  con- 
gregational soirees,  children's  churches, 
and  the  like,  its  use  will  now  become 
more  common  among  us. 

When  things  had  settled  down  after  the 
Chicago  fire,  Mr.  Moody  began  to  think 
of  permanent  premises  for  his  school  and 
church.  A  suitable  site  was  secured,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  proceed  with  the  erec- 
tion of  a  large  and  commodious  building, 
which,  besides  accommodation  for  the 
schools,  will  have  a  hall  or  church,  con- 
taining sittings  for  2,500.  The  cost  of 
the  whole  will  be  about  ;^2o,ooo.  Mr. 
Moody,  by  his  disinterested  labors,  has 
made  so  many  friends  all  over  his  country 
that'  the  contributions  have  flowed  freely 
from  all  parts.  Among  the  most  interesting 
was  a  colossal  subscription  from  500,000 
Sabbath-school  children,  of  five  cents  each, 
all  anxious  to  have  a  brick  in  Mr.  Moody's 
tabernacle.  From  Pekin  he  received  a 
contribution  of  $300  from  an  unknown 
friend.  A  few  converted  Chinamen  col- 
lected a  few  dollars  even  from  their  Pa- 
gan countrymen.  A  little  while  ago  it 
seemed  likely  that  the  whole  sum  neces- 
sary would  be  provided,  but  the  collapse 
in  business  which  has  occurred  may  de- 
prive the  enterprise  of  some  of  the  expect- 
ed contributions. 

We  are  not  aware  what  were  the  deeper 
'reasons  that  induced  Mr.  Moody  to  de- 
vote the  time  which  he  is  now  giving  to 
evangelistic  work  in  this  country.  We 
should  suppose  that  he  was  influenced  by 
the  feeling  that  the  churches  here  stand 
specially  in  need  of  the  application  of 
those  brisker,  livelier,  more  direct  modes 
of  appeal  which  are  more  characteristic 
of  America.  He  may  have  thought  that 
there  was  a  great  amount  of  solid  knowl- 
edge and  doctrinal  orthodoxy  here,  and 
that  if  it  could  only  be  kindled  up  by  a 
spark  from  heaven,  the  results  would  be 
very  remarkable.  The  immediate  cause 
of  his  coming  over  to  spend  a  year  was 


that  he  was  invited  by  two  gentlemen  — 
Mr.  Pennefather,  of  London,  and  Mr. 
Bainbridge,  of  Newcastle.  It  was  a  singu- 
lar circumstance  that  both  these  gentlemen 
died  before  or  about  the  time  of  his  arri- 
val. The  time  selected  for  his  visit  to  this 
country  was  very  characteristic  of  the  man. 
His  new  church  had  begun  to  be  built, 
and  his  schools  and  congregation  were 
soon  to  be  transferred  from  the  temporary 
building  to  the  basement  story  (all  that  is 
yet  ready)  of  the  new  one.  Most  pastors 
would  have  thought  that  at  such  a  time 
there  was  a  special  reason  for  their  staying 
at  home.  Mr.  Moody,  however,  felt  that 
were  he  to  stay,  the  burden  of  a  thousand 
little  things  would  be  thrown  on  him, 
which  others  could  arrange  as  Avell  as  he 
could,  and  which  in  his  absence  they 
would  have  to  arrange.  Not  having  had 
a  house  of  his  own  since  the  fire,  he  was 
less  tied  to  home,  and  his  family  being, 
like  all  Americans,  fond  of  traveling,  his 
wife  and  children  have  come  with  him. 
In  regard  to  the  spiritual  superi-ntendence 
of  the  congregation,  it  is  supplied  in  a 
large  measure  by  members  of  the  flock, 
with  occasional  help  from  other  pastors. 
Mr.  Moody  trains  his  people  to  be  inde- 
pendent in  fact,  as  they  are  Independen 
in  name.  It  may  be  stated,  however,  that 
in  one  respect  the  congregation  is  Presby- 
terian ;  it  is  governed  by  a  session,  not 
by  the  whole  membership.  We  under- 
stand that  Mr.  Moody  has  found  no  reason 
to  regret  that  his  congregation  and  schools 
have  been  left  under  this  kind  of  arrange- 
ment, the  reports  of  their  welfare  and 
progress  being  very  satisfactory. 

On  arriving  in  this  country  in  mid- 
summer of  last  year,  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey's  first  field  was  York.  Their 
progress  there  was  slow.  They  had  to 
win  their  way  to  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  and  that  by  slow  degrees,  as  at 
first  they  had  none  of  the  clergy  to  back 
them,  and  there  was  a  general  suspicion 
or  uncertainty  with  regard  to  them.  The 
other  towns  visited  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land were  Sunderland,  Newcastle,  and 
Carlisle.  In  some  of  these  the  impression 
produced  was  very  great.  Newcastle  espe- 
cially responded  in  a  wonderful  way.  The 
work  of  grace  seemed  to  advance  there 
wonderfully,  and  the  power  of  Heaven 
fell  on  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Some 
friends  in  Edinburgh,  hearing  of  what  was 
doing  in  Newcastle,  invited  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  to  pay  a  visit  to  Edinburgh. 


IN  TROD  UCTION. 


Mr.  Kelman,  of  Leith,  went  twice  to  New- 
castle to  judge  of  the  work  for  himself, 
and  returned  full  of  joy  and  expectation. 
Accompanied  by  Mr.  Sankey,  Mr.  Moody 
came  to  Edinburgh  about  the  middle  or 
towards  the  end  of  November.  Here 
they  were  received  with  much  cordiality 
by  influential  members  both  of  the  clergy 
and  the  laity.  Our  readers  are  familiar 
with  the  progress  of  the  work  in  this  city 
and  in  Leith.  Mr.  Moody  has  taken  a 
remarkable  hold  of  the  people  of  Edin- 
burgh; and  of  Mr.  Sankey's  influence,  if 
there  were  no  other  evidence  of  it,  it 
vrould  be  enough  that  his  hymns  have  be- 
come popular  melodies,  and  that  they  are 
being  sung  oi  hummed  everywhere  by  old 
and  young. 

What  are  the  elements  of  Mr.  Moody's 
power  1  He  is  not  a  man  of  much  educa- 
tion or  culture  ;  his  manner  is  abrupt  and 
blunt ;  his  speech  bristles  with  American- 
isms ;  his  voice  is  sharp,  rapid,  and  collo- 
quial ;  and  he  never  attempts  anything 
like  finished  or  elaborate  composition. 
But  he  is  in  downright  earnest.  He  be- 
lieves what  he  says  ;  he  says  it  as  if  he 
believed  it,  and  he  expects  his  audience 
to  believe  it.  He  gets  wonderfully  near 
to  his  hearers,  without  any  apparent  effort. 
Whatever  size  the  audience  may  be,  he  is 
at  home  with  them  at  once,  and  he  makes 
them  feel  that  they  are  at  home  with  him. 
He  is  gifted  with  a  rare  sagacity,  an  insight 
into  the  human  heart,  a  knowledge  of  what 
is  stirring  in  it,  and  of  what  is  fitted  to  im- 
press it.  He  has  in  his  possession  a  large 
number  of  incidents  and  experiences  well- 
fitted  to  throw  light  on  the  points  he  em- 
ploys them  to  elucidate,  and  to  clench  the 
appeals  which  he  uses  them  to  enforce. 
In  addition  to  ail  this,  he  has  a  deeply 
pathetic  vein,  which  enables  him  to  plead 
very  earnestly  at  the  very  citadel  of  the 
heart.  At  first  his  tone  may  seem  to  be 
hard.  He  will  take  for  his  text,  "  There 
is  no  difference,"  and  press  the  doctrine 
of  universal  condemnation  as  if  the  worst 
and  the  best  were  precisely  alike.  Pos- 
sibly the  antagonism  of  his  audience  is 
somewhat  roused.  But  by  and  by  he 
will  take  them  with  him  to  some  affecting 
deathbed,  and  his  tone  will  show  how  pro- 
foundly his  own  heart  is  stirred  by  what 
is  happening  there.  The  vein  of  pathos 
comes  out  tenderly  and  beautifully.  He 
seems  as  if  he  were  lying  on  the  ground 
pleading  in  tears  with  his  hearers  to  come 
to  Christ.     But,  most  important  of  all,  he 


seems  to  rely  for  effect  absolutely  on  divine 
power.  Of  course,  every  true  preacher 
does,  but  in  very  different  degrees  of  con- 
scious trust  and  expectation.  Mr.  Moody 
goes  to  his  meetings,  fully  expecting  the 
divine  presence,  because  he  has  asked  it. 
He  speaks  with  the  fearlessness,  the  bold- 
ness, and  the  directness  of  one  delivering 
a  message  from  the  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords.  And  he  takes  pains  to 
have  his  own  heart  in  the  spirit  of  the 
message.  He  tries  to  go  to  his  audience 
loving  them,  and  actively  and  fervently 
longing  for  their  salvation.  He  says  that 
if  he  does  not  try  to  stir  up  this  spirit  of 
love  beforehand,  he  cannot  get  hold  of  an 
audience ;  if  he  does,  he  never  fails.  He 
endeavors  to  address  them  with  a  soul 
steeped  in  the  corresponding  emotion. 
He  seems  to  try,  like  Baxter,  never  to 
speak  of  weighty  soul  concerns  without 
his  whole  soul  being  drenched  therein. 

With  all  this,  there  is  in  Mr.  Moody  a 
remarkable  naturalness,  a  want  of  all  ap- 
proach to  affectation  or  sanctimoniousness, 
and  even  a  play  of  humor  which  spurts 
out  sometimes  in  his  most  serious  ad- 
dresses. Doubtless  he  gets  the  tone  of 
his  system  restored  by  letting  out  the 
humor  of  him  after  a  long  day's  hard  and 
earnest  work.  For  children  he  has  obvi- 
ously a  great  affection,  and  they  draw  to 
him  freely  and  pleasantly.  We  should 
fancy  him  a  famous  man  to  lead  a  Sunday- 
school  excursion  party  to  the  country, 
and  set  them  agoing  with  all  manner  of 
joyous  and  laughing  games.  We  are  sure 
he  himself  would  be  the  happiest  of  the 
party,  enjoying  the  fun  himself  as  well  as 
pleased  at  their  enjoyment  of  it.  The 
repression  of  human  nature,  or  the  run- 
ning of  it  into  artificial  moulds,  is  no  part 
of  his  policy.  We  are  sure  he  must  agree 
with  the  late  Dr.  Guthrie,  that  there  is 
nothing  bad  in  human  nature  except  its 
corruptions,  and  that  our  aim  should  be 
not  to  destroy  it  or  any  part  of  it,  but  to 
get  it  restored,  as^God  at  first  made  it. 
His  instincts  of  sagacity  make  him  recoil 
from  all  onesidedness,  and  desire  that  men 
and  women,  under  God's  grace,  should 
hide  no  true  accomplishment,  and  lose  no 
real  charm. 

At  public  meetings,  Mr.  Sankey  seldom 
goes  beyond  the  singing,  except  to  say  a 
few  words  connected  with  his  hymns,  or 
to  gr\'e  some  little  incident  fitted  to  en- 
courage and  stimulate.  The  feeling  thrown 
into  his  singing   and  the  beauty  of  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


singing  itself  are  his  great  charms.  Mr. 
Sankey  is  very  particular  about  distinct- 
ness of  articulation,  and  in  his  solos  every 
word  and  syllable  may  be  heard  as  dis- 
tinctly by  his  audience  as  if  he  were 
speaking.  In  the  after  meetings,  Mr. 
Sankey  takes  a  more  prominent  part.  He 
converses  with  the  anxious,  and  gives 
them  suitable  instruction  and  counsel. 
Mr.  Moody's  mode  of  dealing  with  the 
anxious  is  marked  by  great  urgency.  He 
>  shuts  them  up  to  a  decision,  and  will 
hardly  let  them  out  of  his  hands  till  they 
have  announced  their  purpose  to  give 
themselves  to  Christ. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  say  if  ever 
Edinburgh  has  heen  moved  to  a  similar 
extent  in  ccainection  with  spiritual  things. 
The  Reformation,  no  doubt,  was  a  great 
spiritual  movement,  and  there  were  other 
great  movements  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. In  July,  1 741,  George  Whitefield 
came  to  Edinburgh,  after  having  been  in 
many  parts  of  Scotland,  and  his  move- 
ment was  wonderful.  A  week  had  not 
elapsed  before  concern  about  salvation 
began  to  break  out.  The  broken  in  heart 
would  come  to  him  about  the  dawn  of 
day,  and  at  seven  o'clock  every  evening 
he  had  a  service  in  the  open  air  in  the 
park  of  the  Orphans'  Hospital,  where  the 
North  British  Railway  Station  now  is. 
Later  in  the  day  he  had  another  service, 
and  in  the  evening  he  was  again  visited 
by  the  anxious.  Three  weeks  after  he 
came  he  writes  like  one  amazed,  and  says 
he  verily  believes  there  are  three  hundred 
in  the  city  anxious  about  their  souls.  He 
does  not  know  how  he  is  to  tear  himself 
away  from  Scotland.  But  Edinburgh 
then  had  probably  not  more  than  one- 
sixth  the  population  it  has  now,  and  as 
they  were  all  living  closely  and  compactly 
in  the  Old  Town,  a  spiritual  movement 
had  fewer  physical  obstacles  and  difficul- 
ties. The  movement  now  going  on  is 
probably  of  much  larger  dimensions,  even 
proportionally,  than  that  under  Whitefield. 
Thirty  years  ago  Williarh  Burns  held  large 
meetings  in  Edinburgh,  but  the  community 
was  not  roused  in  anything  like  the  de- 
gree in  which  it  is  roused  now.  One  great 
effect  of  the  movement  now  going  on  in 
Edinburgh  is,  that  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
try are  getting  into  the  spirit  of  hope  and  ex- 
pectation. Whenever  this  spirit  is  awaken- 
ed, spiritual  results  are  likely  to  follow. 
Whitefield  ended  his  Scotch  campaign 
where   Moody   and   Sankey   have   begun 


theirs.  We  trust  that  no  less  a  blessing 
may  rest  on  their  labors  than  on  his,  and 
that  they  too  may  find,  when  the  term  for 
their  return  draws  nigh,  that  they  cannot 
yet  tear  themselves  from  Scotland. — Ab. 
from  The  Daily  Review^  Jati.  6th. 


MR.  SANKEY'S  MUSIC  AND 
SINGING. 

No  stranger  who  has  ever  visited  Glas- 
gow has  been  privileged  to  sing  to  such 
numerous,  crowded,  and  attentive  audi- 
ences, as  Mr.  Sankey.  He  has  intro- 
duced amongst  us  a  style  of  music  which 
to  a  great  extent  is  new  in  public  worship. 
In  Scotland,  our  service  of  praise  has 
been  hitherto  chiefly  confined  to  the  use 
of  psalms.  In  many  of  our  churches, 
hymns  have  been  used  to  a  considerable 
extent,  and  gradually  this  style  of  music 
is  finding  its  way  among  all  denominations. 
Mr.  Sankey  has  given  us  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  what  is  meant  under  the  third 
division  of  the  apostle's  classifications, 
viz.,  spiritual  songs.  He  literally  "  sings 
the  gospel,"  just  as  truly  and  not  less 
powerfully  than  his  friend  Mr.  Moody 
preaches  it.  This  element  of  solo  singing 
in  public  worship  is  quite  new  to  us  in 
Scotland,  and  has  proved  to  be  so  effec- 
tive, so  attractive,  and  has  been  so  much 
blessed  amongst  us,  that  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  many  who  are  gifted  with  the  power 
of  song,  may  take  courage,  and  be  in- 
duced to  follow  Mr.  Sankey's  example, 
and  use  thic;  power  of  song  as  a  new  means 
of  bringing  the  truths  of  the  gospel  be- 
fore the  masses  of  our  people.  The  charm 
and  power  of  Mr.  Sankey's  singing  are  its 
intense  earnestness,  and  the  clear,  plain, 
simple  enunciation  of  every  word  sung. 
It  is  manifest  to  every  one  that  he  feels 
intensely  the  truth  he  is  singing,  and  that 
he  is  determined  that  every  one  shall  hear 
it  and  feel  it  also.  He  comes  with  a  divine 
message  to  his  audience,  and  sets  himself 
to  make  it  known  to  every  one  and  to  be 
realized  by  all ;  hence  the  deep  impression 
produced  by  his  singing.  What  he  sings 
is  nothing  new  to  us,  but  how  he  sings  is 
very  new  indeed.  His  songs  are  simple. 
The  subject  is  the  old,  old  story.  The 
words  are  plain  and  pleasant,  but  nothing 
extraordinary ;  often  not  to  be  compared 
to  those  of  our  well-known  psalms  and 
hymns.  The  music  is  generally  pretty 
and  pleasant,  but  little  more ;  a  small  por- 


INTROD  UCTION. 


II 


tion  of  it  has  any  claim  to  originality. 
Much  of  it  is  so  Scottish  and  Irish  in  its 
construction  that  to  our  people  familiar 
with  such  music,  it  is  sometimes  difficult 
to  realize  that  what  we  hear  is  sacred  song. 
Usually  short  turns  and  strains  remind  us 
irresistibly  of  something  we  know,  but 
cannot  recall.  In  some  of  the  melodies 
the  effect  is  more  marked.  Who  does  not 
feel  the  sweetness  of  familiar  Irish  melody 
in  "  Sweet  by-and-by,"  and  the  "  Valley  of 
Blessing,"  and  the  thorough  Scottish  ring 
in  such  songs  as  "  Hold  the  Fort,"  "  Sweet 
Hour  of  Prayer,"  "  The  Gate  Ajar,"  "  Here 
am  I,'  send  me,"  and  many  others.  It  takes 
us  by  surprise  to  hear  gospel  truth  wafted 
in  the  strains  of  our  national  music ;  but 
is  it  not  possible  that  this  may  be  the  true 
though  unexpected  reason  why  these  sim- 
ple songs  have  found  such  a  direct  and 
wonderful  entrance  to  the  Scottish  heart } 
Mr.  Sankey  has  a  fine,  full,  soft,  baritone 
voice,  well  trained,  and  over  which  he  has 
complete  mastery — the  organ  he  uses  as  a 
mere  accessory,  though  sometimes  its  help 


is  not  beneficial — for  instance,  in  the  song 
"  I  am  so  glad,"  the  effect  of  the  compound 
triple  time  is  very  striking,  being  quite  un- 
known to  us  in  church  music,  but  the  organ 
having  no  accent  cannot  mark  this  effect, 
and  the  first  line  is  always  heard  in  a  mo- 
notonous staccato  style,  which  unfortu- 
nately our  audience  are  too  ready  to  fol- 
low. When  Mr.  Sankey  sings  clearly  out, 
so  as  to  drown  the  organ,  it  is  all  right, 
but  v/hen  our  choirs  and  congregations 
are  left  alone  to  sing  this  song,  they  do  so 
in  an  undecided  common  time  greatly 
marring  its  beauty.  In  the  chorus  the 
effect  is  generally  better,  for  the  marked 
accent  of  the  words  helps  to  keep  them 
right.  Mr.  Sankey's  singing  has  not  the 
least  pretension  to  be  artistic :  nothing 
can  be  more  plain  and  natural.  The 
music  with  him  is  a  secondary  matter : 
the  words  are  of  the  first  importance.  He 
sings  the  words  and  brings  out  their  full 
meaning  and  expression.  The  music  is 
made  subservient,  and  in  time  and  accent 
is  constantly  varied,  so  as  to  fit  the  words. 


THE  WORK  IN  SCOTLAND. 


EDINB  URGH. 


I. 


PRAYER  AND   FASTING. 

NoiK  28,  1873. — We  are  having  a  very 
good  time  here  just  now,  under  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Moody  .and  the  singing  of  Mr. 
Sankey. 

We  are  all  deh'ghted  with  them ;  minis- 
ters of  all  denominations  are  joining  cor- 
dially in  the  work,  and  God  is  indeed 
working  graciously.  About  2,000  are  out 
every  night  hearing;  many  more  come 
and  cannot  get  into  the  church.  Two 
churches  are  to  be  opened  simultaneously 
each  night  next  week. 

The  singing  of  Mr.  Sankey  lays  the 
gospel  message  and  invitation  very  dis- 
tinctly and  powerfully  on  the  consciences 
of  the  people ;  and  Mr.  Moody's  gospel  is 
clear,  earnest,  distinct,  and  well  illustra- 
ted— telling  of  death  and  resurrection — 
the  "gospel  of  God."  He  is  a  first-rate 
workman,  and  very  practical,  and  God 
has  been  blessing  his  preaching. 

Every  evening  there  has  been  a  number 
of  souls  coming  into  the  inquiry  rooms; 
but  last  night,  when  preaching  on  "  the 
Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost,"  the  Spirit  seemed  to 
be  working  in  special  power,  and  old 
Formality  got  his  neck  broken,  and  the 
wounded  and  weeping  souls  came  into  the 
inquiry  meeting  in  droves.  I  had  to  speak 
at  one  time  to  seven  all  at  once,  because 
there  was  more  corn  than  reapers;  and 
others  were  similarly  circumstanced.  I 
saw  Mr.  Moody  all  the  evening  with  gen- 
erally more  than  one.  Three  rooms  were 
open  for  inquirers,  and  I  don't  know  what 
they  had  in  the  others,  but  we  Jiad  about 
forty  names  on  the  paper  at  the  close,  of 
those  we  conversed  with  in  our  room. 
Mr.  Moody  keeps  with  us  in  the  elders' 
Testry.  Others,  who  are  less  susceptible 
and  can  stand  at  doors,  do  so,  and  lay 
Itold  of  the  people  as  they  retire.  About 
-one  himdred,  I*should  think,  were  spoken 
^with  privately  last  night,  and  numbers  of 
them  decided  for  Christ.  About  ten  did 
«o  (or  professed  to  do  so),  in  conversation 
-with  myseK  May  the  Divine  Spirit  make 
it  ii . grand  xeality  to  their  souls  that  Christ 


is  theirs !     On  Tuesday  night  I  had  seven 
who  professed  conversion. 

On  Wednesday  I  fought  away  with  two 
only,  both  chronic  cases,  deep  in  the  mire 
of  their  own  thoughts,  and  feelings,  and 
reasonings,  and  I  left  them  very  much  the 
same  as  I  found  them.  (One  of  them  has 
been  saved.)  This  was,  I  suppose,  to 
teach  me  this  lesson,  that  it  is  altogether 
God's  work  to  save,  and  man  is  powerless. 

This  experience  made  me  go  out  next 
night  with  Jesus'  word  on  my  lips,  "  This 
kind  goeth  not  out  but  hy  prayer  and /ast- 
i^^S  J  "  prayer  is  the  symbol  of  our  depend- 
ence upon  God,  and  fasting  is  the  symbol 
of  "no  confidence  in  the  flesh" —  or  self- 
renunciation.  No  devil  has  so  powerful  a 
hold  of  an  anxious  soul  but  that  prayer 
dcnd  fasting  will  cast  him  out  in  the  name 
of  Jesus. 

Our  noon  prayer  -  meeting  is  well  at- 
tended ;  about  700  are  out  daily,  and  there 
is  a  remarkable  quickening  and  earnest- 
ness among  ministers  and  Christians  gen- 
erally. I  know  Edinburgh  well,  and  I 
am  safe  to  say  that  I  never  knew  a  time 
when  there  was  a  greater  appearance  of 
harmony  among  Christians;  unity  among 
the  Lord's  workers  ;  and  humble,  prayerful 
waiting  upon  God  for  blessing. 


II. 

"I  HAVE  FOUND   JESUS." 

Dec.  2, 1873. — The  work  here  still  makes 
good  progress.  On  Friday  there  was  much 
blessing  to  Christians,  and  numbers  of 
souls  were  also  brought  in.  On  that  even- 
ing we  had  delightful  work  in  the  in- 
quiry meeting,  and,  I  think,  I  had  about 
half-a-dozen  I  had  good  hope  of.  One 
was  specially  interesting,  a  stranger  from 
beyond  Stirling.  She  was  passing  through, 
came  to  the  meeting,  heard,  was  awaken*- 
ed,  came  into  the  inquiry  meeting,  and 
into  my  hands,  along  with  a  girl  of  twelve, 
and  both  professed  to  see  the  way  of  sal- 
vation in  Acts  xiii.  38,  39.  This  woman 
was  astonished  to  hear  that  she  had  just 
to  believe  what  she  read  there  to  be  saved. 
She  said,  "  Is  that  all.?  have  I  only  to  be- 


EDINBURGH. 


n 


lieve  it  ?  "  "  Just  to  believe  that  forgiveness 
is  yours  as  a  gift  from  God."  "  Then  I  do 
believe."  "  Then  God  says  you  are  jus- 
tified from  all  things." 

On  the  Lord's-day  morning  Mr.  Moody 
preached  very  effectively  to  Christians  in 
Dr.  Andrew  Thompson's  Church,  and  in 
the  evening  there  were  three  meetings, 
one  in  the  Barclay  Church,  another  in 
Viewforth  Free  Church,  and  a  third  in 
Fountainbridge  Church.  About  3,000 
heard  the  Word  from  Mr.  Moody  that 
day. 

Mr.  Moody  preached  first  in  Barclay 
Church  at  six  o'clock,  then  Viewforth  at 
7:45.  Then  he  went  down  to  Fountain- 
bridge  Church,  where  Dr.  Bonar  had  been 
preaching  till  he  came,  but  they  had  des- 
paired of  Mr.  Moody  coming;  and  just 
as  we  were  at  the  church  door  we  met  the 
people  coming  out,  which  seemed  rather 
provoking,  but  Mr.  Moody  said,  "  We'll  go 
back  and  get  the  inquiry  meeting  at  View- 
forth  Church,"  and  just  as  we  got  back 
the  inquiry  rooms  were  filled — there  look- 
ed like  200 — but  there  were  many  workers 
among  them — about  one-half  were  Chris- 
tians. 

One  soul,  we  saw,  took  Christ  there ; 
but  I  had  quite  a  number  at  the  Barclay 
Church,  where  I  had  conversed  with  the 
anxious  for  one  hour  previously.  It  was  now 
ten  o'clock,  and  we  left  off  and  came  home 
filled  with  joy  in  the  Lord  over  new-born 
souls.  We  are  thankful  for  the  interest 
manifested, '  and  the  first  drops  of  the 
plentiful  rain. 

Large  numbers  were  out  again  last 
night,  and  we  had  a  meeting  for  inquirers 
at  the  Free  Assembly  Hall.  About  forty 
confessed  that  they  were  new  converts, 
and  about  forty  stood  up  as  anxious  to  be 
saved,  and  were  asked  to  go  to  the  other 
;ide  of  the  hall,  where  they  were  conversed 
with. 

I  got  down  beside  a  young  lady  whom 
I  saw  anxious  last  night  in  the  inquiry 
meeting,  but  did  not  have  the  opportuni- 
ty of  speaking  to  her,  and  kept  at  work  for 
an  hour  with  her  over  the  Word  of  God. 
I  could  not  tell  you  at  length  the  deep  in- 
terest of  this  case;  but  at  the  close  I  had 
some  hope  that  she  has  divine  life  and  will 
yet  get  liberty. 

A  beautiful  incident  happened  as  I  was 
speaking  to  her.  A  young  girl  bounded 
up  to  us  and  said,  with  an  overflowing 
joy,  "  I  am  the  girl  you  spoke  to  at  the 
Barclay  Church   and   gave  the  book  to; 


now  I  am  just  going,  but  could  not  leave 
without  coming  to  tell  vou  that  /  have 
found  JesKs" 

We  had  a  very  sweet  meeting  at  noon 
to-day.  Mr.  Moody  gave  us  the  piayers 
that  God  does  not  answer — Moses,  Elijah, 
Paul.  I  pointed  out  to  him  afterwards, 
to  his  great  delight,  that  Moses'  prayer 
was  answered,  to  see  the  land  1483  years 
afterwards,  but  not  as  in  the  midst  of 
Israel,  but  in  better  company,  with  Jesus 
in  the  midst,  on  the  mount  of  transfigura- 
tion ;  and  he  saw  the  land  in  the  light  of 
the  glory  of  Christ.  And  when  he  re- 
turned he  did  not  care  a  bit  for  the  land. 
He  was  all  taken  up  with  Christ,  and  in- 
stead of  speaking  of  it  or  the  goodly  moun- 
tain and  Lebanon,  he  and  Elias  spake  to 
Him  of  His  decease  that  He  should  ac- 
complish at  Jerusalem,  the  thing  nearest 
his  heart.  That  is  the  sight  we,  too,  shall 
get  of  it  (if  we  do  not  see  it  now)  when 
He  comes  in  His  glory,  and  all  His  saints 
with  Him. 


III. 

THE  FIRST  NIGHT  IN  BROUGH- 
TON   PLACE  CHURCH. 

Tuesday  Nighty  Dec.  2d. — We  have  had 
a  most  impressive  address  from  Mr.  Moody 
this  evening  in  Broughton  Place  Church, 
on  the  text,  "  Whej-e  art  thou  2  "  He  spoke 
very  solemnly  to  Christians,  and  said  if 
they  were  to  wake  up,  Edinburgh  would 
be  filled  with  awakening  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  inside  of  forty  -  eight  hours. 
Then  he  spoke  to  sinners,  and  it  was  most 
alarming.  The  three  steps  to  hell,  he  said, 
were — 

I.  Neglect ;  2.  Refuse  j  3.  Despise. 

He  told  them,  even'  weeping,  of  their 
danger,  and  besought  them  to  get  the 
question  settled  now.  Ah,  it  is  that  ten- 
der, weeping  power  in  dear  Mr.  Moody, 
that  is  so  overwhelming  to  sinners.  He 
is  now  preaching  in  one  of  the  best  and 
largest  churches  of  the  New  Town,  and 
yet  he  has  been  quite  as  faithful  as  when 
among  the  poor  last  week  in  the  Old 
Town;  and  there  have  been  some  marked 
cases  of  awakening.  Mr.  Sankey's  singing 
of  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  "  had  a  fine  effect 
upon  them.  I  saw  it  striking  in  upon  the 
hearts  of  many ;  and  many  weeping  eyes 
told  of  its  power.  A  widow  in  front  of 
me,  with  her  little  boy  by  her  side,  was 
moved  deeply,  and  publicly  addressed  by 


14 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Mr.  Moody,  listened  with  very  wistful  eyes; 
and  both  of  them  came  to  the  second 
meeting.  I  was  anxious  about  the  result 
of  the  inquiry  meeting  in  that  church,  and 
they  were  rather  long  in  coming  in,  but  it 
turned  out  nearly  as  good  as  before.  About 
fifty  were  conversed  with  this  first  night, 
and  there  seemed  to  be  quite  a  number 
that  believed. 

The  first  I  got  hold  of  was  a  working 
man  ;  and  after  showing  him  in  the  Word 
the  way  of  life  and  peace,  and  getting  him 
to  decide,  he  said  : 

"  My  wife  's  here." 

"  Where  .? " 

"  Sitting  there  by  herself." 

"  Please  bring  her  here." 

She,  too,  professed  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  they  went  home  together 
believing. 

Then  I  got  a  youth  about  eighteen  in  a 
terrible  state  of  anxiety,  and  wrought  with 
him  a  long  time,  and  though  hopeful,  I  do 
not  know  that  he  sees  clearly  ;  but  he  lives 
near  me,  and  I  hope  to  see  him  again  to- 
morrow. The  life  is  in,  I  believe,  but  he 
wants  liberty. 

Then  I  got  a  word  with  about  a  dozen 
besides,  and  gave  them  books. 

I  saw  three  all  at  once  profess  Christ  in 
Mr.  Moody's  hands. 

But  there  were  chronic  cases  that  baf- 
fled the  whole  of  us,  and  after  ten  o'clock 
there  was  a  man  in  a  corner  to  whom  Mr. 
Gall  had  spoken  all  night,  who  was  all  but 
desperate  with  conviction.  Mr.  Moody 
prayed  with  him,  and  he  was  bowed  down 
and  weeping,  but  we  had  to  leave  him  still 
in  bondage,  showing  how  entirely  it  is 
God's  work  to  set  a  soul  free. 

A  thing  of  some  special  interest  to  me 
happened  as  I  was  giving  in  the  names. 
The  recorder  said  to  me,  "  Mr.  Reid,  you 
are  my  wife's  spiritual  father." 

I  said  I  was  not  aware  of  it.  *'  When 
was  it .'  " 

"  It  was  in  the  last  revival  about  twelve 
years  ago,  and  she  used  to  attend  all  your 
meetings  when  you  lived  in  Edinburgh." 

I  said  I  was  glad  to  hear  it,  and,  most 
likely,  I  would  know  her  if  I  saw  her. 

It  is  delightful  to  find  fruit  "  after  many 
days  ;  "  it  gives  one  more  confidence  and 
hopefulness  that  what  we  are  now  seeing 
in  blossom  will  ripen  into  precious  fruit." 


IV. 

FAITH. 

To-night  {Thursday,  Dec. 4,)  we  have 
had  a  good  time.  Mr.  Moody  preached 
on  faith.  But  you  will  know  what  it  was 
when  I  tell  you  that  it  was  scriptural,  and 
it  was  very  convincing.  Mr.  Sankey  sang 
"  /esus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by.'"  There 
was  a  power  in  it ;  many  wept.  At  the 
close  I  had  three  or  four  anxious  sinners, 
and  about  as  many  anxious  saints.  Mr. 
Moody  had  a  goodly  number  professing 
faith  in  his  hands.  Others  also  were  busy. 
I  had  some  interesting  cases  of  saints  in 
darkness  who  again  got  light.  Just  as  I 
was  leaving,  Mr.  Moody  put  into  my 
hands  a  young  lady  who  had  been  con- 
versed with  by  one  and  another  all  the  even- 
ing; and  just  as  I  spoke  the  very  last 
word  I  intended  to  speak  to  her,  her  face 
was  lighted  up  with  joy,  and  she  said,  "  I 
now  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus."  Dr.  Thom- 
son remarked  as  we  were  coming  out,  that 
he  thought  it  had  been  anight  of  more  solid 
work  than  any  we  have  yet  had.  One 
good  thing  in  being  in  one  of  the  New 
Town  churches  is,  that  "  the  poor  rich," 
as  a  noble  worker  calls  them,  have  got  a 
chance  for  their  souls.  The  most  respec- 
table men  and  women  have  been  plentiful 
in  the  meeting,  and  not  absent  from  the 
inquiry  rooms.  The  poor  have  far  more 
privileges  and  opportunities  of  being  saved 
than  the  better  classes.  But  they,  too,  are 
getting  a  chance  now ;  and  we  have  seen 
some  marked  instances  of  salvation  among 
them.  ,  We  returned  home,  praising  God 
for  His  grace  and  blessing. 


V. 

THE   INQUIRERS'  MEETING. 

Dec.  5,  1873. — I  desire  to  give  you  an 
inkling  of  the  work  in  the  inquiry  meeting 
as  I  have  seen  it  for  the  past  fortnight.  I 
have  observed  that  Mr.  Moody  speaks  to 
inquirers  with  an  open  Bible  in  his  hands, 
fixing  them  down  to  the  Word  of  God,  and 
anchoring  their  souls  on  the  living  rock  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  also  gets  them  to 
their  knees  in  prayer ;  and  I  have  seen  them 
rising  from  his  side  by  twos  and  threes, 
wiping  their  weeping  eyes,  and  smiling 
through  their  tears,  confessing  Christ. 

My  conviction  is,  that  in  the  inquiry 
room  in  the   Barclay  Church,  where  we 


EDINBURGH. 


15 


were,  not  fewer  than  fifty  souls  appeared 
in  a  hopeful  way  to  continue  their  journey 
heavenward,  during  the  first  week. 

This  week,  and  especially  on  Friday 
night,  there  have  been,  we  believe,  as 
many  in  the  rooms  below  the  Broughton 
Place  Church ;  and  Dr.  Thomson  said  on 
Friday  night  before  we  left,  "  I  think  there 
could  not  have  been  fewer  than  one  hun- 
dred inquirers  here  to-night,  and  I  think 
more  have  professed  faith  in  Christ  than 
any  night."  It  was  very  cheering  to  see 
the  great  heartiness  with  which  Dr.  Thom- 
son entered  into  the  work  of  the  inquirers' 
meeting ;  and  also  to  see  otlier  ministers 
there,  in  considerable  force,  from  his  own 
church  and  other  churches  engaged  in  point- 
ing sinners  to  Christ.  Having  been  every 
night  at  v/ork  for  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the 
inquiry  meeting,  and  judging  of  the  work 
from  seeing  about  forty  come  to  Christ  in 
my  own  hands,  I  judge  that  the  Lord  is 
doing  marvelous  things  among  us,  whereof 
we  are  glad. 

Seven  professed  faith  in  Christ  all  at 
one  time  in  one  company,  and  we  had  a 
conviction  that  it  was  reality  in  at  least 
four  of  them.  On  Friday  night,  after  Mr. 
Moody's  solemn  word,  there  seemed  to  be 
a  great  smashing  up  of  souls  (as  Mr.  Rad- 
cliffe  used  to  call  it),  and  among  others,  a 
lady  came  into  my  hands  from  San  Fran- 
cisct),  California,  here  for  the  healing  of 
her  body ;  and  her  trouble  was  that  the 
Spirit,  she  thought,  had  left  her.  We 
showed  that  her  anxiety  to  be  saved  and 
her  clinging  to  Christ  were  evidences  to 
the  contrary ;  and  she  left  after  ten  min- 
utes' conversation  in  a  state  of  blessed 
emancipation  and  comfort.  She  was 
brought  to  me  by  one  who  got  out  of 
bondage  the  night  before ;  and  I  said, 
"  Perhaps  you  will  be  bringing  two  each 
on  Sunday  night."  Thus  the  work  of 
the  inquirers'  meeting  is  self-propagating. 


VI. 

WEEPING  FOR  A  NIGHT,  JOY  IN 
THE    MORNING. 

The  last  case  we  dealt  with  on  Friday 
night  was  the  most  solemn  we  have  seen, 
except  that  man  who  was  specially  prayed 
for  in  the  noon  -  day  meeting  the  other 
day,  and  saved  that  night.  This  was  a 
young  woman  weeping  floods  of  tears. 
She  complained  of  a  hard  heart,  and  fear- 
ed the  scorn  of  the   ungodly  when  she 


went  home ;  she  faintly  professed  faith  in 
Christ. 

I  felt  such  an  interest  in  this  girl  that 
I  could  not  sleep  without  sending  her  a 
line  by  post,  inviting  her  to  come  next 
day  that  my  wife  might  read  the  Scrip- 
tures with  her,  and  tell  her  more  about 
the  Lord  Jesus.  She  came :  I  was  at  a 
meeting  I  have  on  Saturday  evening.  We 
made  special  prayer  for  her,  and  the  per- 
son who  led  us  seemed  to  get  near  to 
God,  and  we  had  a  conviction  that  we 
were  heard.  It  was  so;  for  on  my  re- 
turn home,  I  was  met  with  the  cheering 
intelligence,  "  The  girl  has  been  here :  I 
have  read  with  her  for  nearly  two  hours ; 
and  she  has  just  left,  saved  and  happy. 
She  said  she  faintly  believed  last  night,  as 
you  said,  but  she  is  now  at  liberty,  and 
says  she  never  saw  the  fullness  and  free- 
ness  of  salvation  as  she  sees  it  now.  Her 
eyes  were  red  and  swollen  with  weeping 
last  night;  but  she  was  looking  bright 
and  smiling;  and  the  only  tears  she 
wept  were  tears  of  expressed  gratitude 
that  Jesus  had  received  her,  and  that  we 
had  been  so  interested  in  her  as  to  care 
for  her  for  Jesus'  sake  as  we  had  done." 
We  have  seen  her  since,  and  she  is  look- 
ing unto  Jesus;  but  her  demeanor  is  quiet 
and  subdued,  and  she  looks  as  one  would 
do  who  had  just  escaped  from  drowning,  or 
from  a  terrible  railway  collision. 


VIL 

THE   SATURDAY   MEETING. 

Dec.  6. — We  have  had  a  meeting  to-day 
for  parents  and  children.  It  assembled — 
about  2,000  were  present ;  the  parents  got 
a  good  word.  Our  dear  brother  Sankey's 
singing  happily  gave  the  gospel  to  the 
children  in  a  number  of  gospel  hymns. 

Mr.  Moody  addressed  parents  from 
Deut.  iv.  5-1 1 ;  V.  29;  vi.  7.  Some  young 
people  think  they  hear  too  much  about 
Christ  and  salvation  from  their  parents, 
but  here  they  have  authority  from  God  to 
speak  of  them,  morning,  noon,  and  night ; 
when  lying  down  and  rising  up ;  when  sit- 
ting in  the  house  and  walking  by  the  way. 
There  should  be  the  most  diligent  instruc- 
tion of  the  young  by  parents,  storing  their 
minds  with  the  Word  of  God. 

Then  from  Mark  x.  13-17  he  addressed 
the  children,  and  said  that  this  is  the  only 
time  when  Christ  was  said  to  be  much  dis- 
pleased.    He  told  of  the  daughter  of  an 


i6 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


infidel  dying  in  peace,  after  being  only  five 
weeks  at  the  Sunday  school.  Also,  of  a 
boy  of  twelve,  who  heard  Dr.  Chalmers 
preach,  and  came,  at  the  close  of  the  ser- 
vice, and  said  he  had  nothing  to  give,  but 
he  would  give  himself  to  Christ.  He  did 
so,  and  has  been  the  means  in  our  country 
of  establishing  many  Sabbath-schools,  Avith 
tens  of  thousands  of  scholars,  and  out  of 
them  have  grown  as  many  as  thirty-eight 
churches,  in  which  are  many  precious 
souls  saved  and  happy,  all  through  this 
boy  coming  to  Christ  and  giving  himself 
to  Him. 


VIII. 

MESSRS.  MOODY  AND  SANKEY  IN 
BROUGHTON   PLACE  CHURCH. 

After  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  in  Broughton  Place  Church 
for  a  week,  I  am  sure  you  will  give  me 
some  space  in  your  paper  for  the  state- 
ment of  a  few  facts  and  impressions. 

I  should  consider  it  a  very  superfluous 
work  to  say  anything  of  the  trustworthi- 
ness of  these  excellent  men.  They  have 
come  amongst  us  not  as  unknown  adven- 
turers without  "  letters  of  commendation," 
but  as  long-tried  and  honored  laborers  in 
the  fields  of  evangelism  in  their  own  coun- 
try, and  more  recently  in  Newcastle  and 
other  towns  in  the  north  of  England,  where 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  pentecostal 
blessing  in  which  every  denomination  of 
Christians  has  shared.  And  the  ministers, 
and  elders,  and  deacons  of  our  different 
churches  that  have  gathered  around  them 
every  evening,  and  shared  with  them  in 
their  blessed  work,  prove  the  confidence  in 
which  they  are  held  by  those  in  whom  the 
Christian  people  of  Edinburgh  are  accus- 
tomed to  place  confidence. 

The  service  of  song  conducted  by  Mr. 
Sankey,  in  which  music  is  used  as  the 
handmaid  of  a  gospel  ministry,  has  al- 
ready been  described  in  your  columns.  I 
have  never  found  it  objected  to  except  by 
those  who  have  not  witnessed  it.  Those 
M'ho  have  come  and  heard,  have  departed 
with  their  prejudices  vanquished  and  their 
hearts  impressed.  We  might  quote,  in 
commendation  of  this  somewhat  novel 
manner  of  preaching  the  gospel,  the  words 
of  good  George  Herbert : 

"  A  verse  may  win  him  who  the  gospel  flies, 
And  turn  delight  into  a  sacrifice." 


There  is  nothing  of  novelty  in  the  doc- 
trine which  Mr.  Moody  proclaims.  It  is 
the  old  gospel — old,  yet  always  fresh  and 
young,  too,  as  the  living  fountain  or  the 
morning  sun — in  which  the  substitution  of 
Christ  is  placed  in  the  centre  and  present- 
ed with  admirable  distinctness  and  de- 
cision. It  is  spoken  with  impressive  di- 
rectness, not  as  by  a  man  half  convinced 
and  who  seems  always  to  feel  that  a  skep- 
tic is  looking  over  his  shoulder,  but  with  a 
deep  conviction  of  the  truth  of  what  he 
says,  as  if,  like  our  own  Andrew  Fuller,  he 
could  "  venture  his  eternity  on  it,"  and 
with  a  tremendous  earnestness,  as  if  he 
felt  that  "  if  he  did  not  speak  the  very 
stones  would  cry  out."  The  illustrations 
and  anecdotes,  drawn  principally  from  his 
strangely-varied  life,  are  so  wisely  chosen, 
so  graphically  told,  and  so  well  applied  as 
never  to  fail  in  hitting  the  mark. 

I  wish  once  more  to  call  attention  to 
one  essential  feature  in  the  action  of  these 
good  men — the  daily  noon-day  meeting 
for  prayer.  It  began  some  weeks  ago  in 
an  upper  room  in  Queen  Street  Plall. 
That  was  filled  after  a  {q\y  days.  Next  it 
was  transferred  to  Queen  Street  Hall, 
which  is  capable  of  holding  1,200  persons.  ^ 
It  was  not  long  ere  this  became  over- 
crowded, and  now  there  are  full  meetings 
every  day  in  the  Free  Assembly  Hall, 
which  is  capable  of  holding  some  hun- 
dreds more.  It  is  a  fact  with  a  meaning 
in  it,  that  simultaneously  with  the  increase 
in  the  noon-day  meeting  for  prayer  has 
been  the  increase  in  attendance  in  Brough- 
ton Place  Church  at  the  evening  addresses, 
and  also  in  the  number  of  inquirers  after- 
wards. Before  the  end  of  last  week  every 
inch  of  standing-ground  in  our  large  place 
of  worship  was  occupied  with  eager  listen- 
ers, and  hundreds  were  obliged  to  depart 
without  being  able  to  obtain  so  much  as  a 
sight  of  the  speaker.  The  number  of  in- 
quirers gradually  rose  from  fifty  to  a  hun- 
dred per  night,  and  on  Monday  evening 
this  week,  when  the  awakened  and  those 
who  professed  to  have  undergone  the 
"  great  change,^'  were  gathered  together  in 
our  church  hall,  to  be  addressed  by  Mr. 
Moody,  no  other  persons  being  admitted, 
there  were  nearly  three  hundred  present, 
and  even  these  were  only  a  part  of  the 
fruits  of  one  week.  I  wish  to  give  prom- 
inence to  the  statement  that  the  persons 
who  conversed  with  the  perplexed  and  in- 
quiring were  ministers,  elders,  and  dea- 
cons,  and   qualified  private  members  of 


EDINBURGH. 


17 


our  various  churches ;  and  also  Christian 
matrons  and  Bible-women,  as  far  as  their 
valuable  services  could  be  secured. 

And  now,  at  the  close  of  the  week  of 
special  services  in  Broughton  Place  Church, 
1  wish  to  repeat  the  statement  in  your  pa- 
per which  I  made  on  Monday  in  the  As- 
sembly Hall,  that  there  is  no  Aveek  in  my 
lengthened  ministry  upon  which  I  look 
.back  with  such  grateful  joy.  I  would  not 
for  the  wealth  of  a  world  have  the  recol- 
lection of  what  I  have  seen  and  heard 
during  the  past  week  blotted  out  from  my 
memory.  When  Howe  was  Chaplain  to 
Cromwell  at  Whitehall,  he  became  weary 
of  the  turmoil  and  pomp  of  the  palace,  and 
wrote  to  his  "  dear  and  honored  brother," 
R-ichard  Baxter,  telling  him  how  much  he 
longed  to  be  back  again  to  his  beloved 
work  at  Torrington.  "  I  have  devoted 
myself,"  he  said,  "  to  serve  God  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  and  how  can  I  want 
the  pleasure  r)f  hearing  their  cryings  and 
complaints  who  have  come  to  me  under 
convictions."  I  have  shared  with  many 
beloved  brethren  during  the  past  week  in 
this  sacred  pleasure,  and  it  is  like  eating 
of  angels'  bread,  first  to  hear  the  cry  of 
conviction,  and  yet  more  to  hear  at  length 
the  utterance  of  the  joy  of  reconciliation 
and  peace  ! 

I  was  much  struck  by  the  variety  among 
the  inquirers.  There  were  present  from 
the  old  man  of  seventy-five  to  the  youth 
of  eleven,  soldiers  from  the  Castle,  stu- 
dents from  the  University,  the  backsliding, 
the  intemperate,  the  skeptical,  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  the  educated  and  the  uned- 
ucated ;  and  in  how  many  instances  were 
the  wounded  healed  and  the  burdened  re- 
leased ! 

It  may  be  encouraging  to  Christian 
parents  and  teachers  to  be  told  that  very 
much  of  this  marvelous  blessing,  when 
once  begun  in  a  house,  has  spread  through 
the  whole  family,  and  those  who  already 
had  the  knov/ledge  of  divine  truth  in  their 
minds  by  early  Christian  education,  formed 
by  far  the  largest  proportion  of  the  con- 
verts. The  seed  was  there  sleeping  in  the 
soil,  which  the  influence  from  above  quick- 
ened into  life. 

There  was  a  considerable  number  of 
skeptics  among  the  inquirers,  but  their 
speculative  doubts  and  difficulties  very 
soon  became  of  no  account  when  they 
came  to  have  a  proper  view  of  their  sins. 
Some  have  already  come  to  tell  me  of 
their  renunciation  of  unbelief,  and  their 


discipleship  to  Christ.  One  has  publicly 
announced  that  he  can  no  longer  live  in 
the  ice-house  of  cold  negations,  and  has 
asked  Mr.  Moody  to  publish  the  address 
which  brought  light  to  his  heart,  and  to 
circulate  it  far  and  wide  over  the  land. 

I  witnessed  no  excesses  in  the  inquiry 
rooms,  but  there  was  often  deep  and  melt- 
ing solemnity,  sometimes  the  sob  of  sor- 
row, and  the  wliispered  prayer  of  contri- 
tion or  gratitude.  There  must,  however, 
occur  at  times  imprudent  things  and 
excesses  in  connection  with  even  the  best 
works  that  have  imperfect  though  good 
men  employed  about  them.  But  cold 
criticism  that  is  in  search  of  faults,  or 
ultra-prudence  that  attempts  nothing  from 
fear  of  making  mistakes,  is  not  the  temper 
in  which  to  regard  such  events.  I  would 
not  dare  to  take  either  of  these  positions, 
"  lest  haply  I  should  be  found  to  be  fight- 
ing against  God." 

I  have  already  expressed  my  high  appre- 
ciation of  Mr.  Moody's  manner  of  address- 
ing. If  some  think  that  it  wants  the  polished 
elegance  of  certain  of  our  home  orators,  it 
has  qualities  that  are  far  more  valuable  ; 
and  even  were  it  otherwise,  the  great  thing 
is  to  have  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God 
clearly  and  earnestly  preached  to  the  mul- 
titudes who  are  crowding  every  night  to 
listen  to  him.  When  the  year  of  jubilee 
came  in  ancient  times  among  the  Jews,  I 
suspect  the  v/eary  bond-slave  or  the  poor 
debtor  cared  little  whether  it  was  pro- 
claimed to  him  with  silver  trumpets  or 
with  rams'  horns,  if  he  could  only  be  as^ 
sured  that  he  was  free. — I  am,  etc., 
Andrew  Thomson^ 

^■^  Northumberland  Street, 
Edin.,  Dec.  9,  1873. 


IX. 

Dece?nber  ']th. — There  was  a  meeting  at 
Broughton  Place  Church — two  thousand 
present.  Another  at  Free  Lady  Glen- 
orchy's  Church — one  thousand  present. 
Mr.  Reginald  Radcliffe  was  in  the  Free 
Assembly  Hall — fully  one  thousand  pres- 
ent ;  so  that  upwards  of  four  thousand 
heard  evangelistic  preaching.  The  meet- 
ings have  been  full  of  interest — hundreds 
cut  up  by  the  truth,  and  the  gospel  preach 
ed  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Christians  seem  filled  with  joy,  and  ready 
to  take  each  other  to  their  bosoms;  there 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


is  such  a  fine  spirit  of  love  and  unity  per- 
vading tlieir  minds. 

Mr.  Moody  was  speaking  of  the  sinners' 
excuses  in  Luke  xiv.  this  evening  at  both 
the  meetings. 

A  number  of  blind  children  were  awak- 
ened. There  were  also  some  good  cases 
here  too  among  men  and  women,  as  well 
as  at  the  other  church.  I  have  been 
preaching  in  a  neighboring  town,  but  I  am 
told  that  Mr.  Moody  has  preached  like  a 
giant  to-night,  and  there  was  great  power. 
Mr.  Sankey  had  also  much  power  in  sing- 
ing, "  Prodigal  Child  "  and  "  Free  from 
the  Law." 


SECOND  MEETING  WITH  YOUNG 
CONVERTS. 

Monday,  Dec.  2>ih. — This  evening  there 
was  a  prayer-meeting  in  Dr.  Thomson's 
church,  and  the  inquirers  met  Mr.  Moody 
in  the  room  below  along  with  those  who 
had  been  recently  converted.  About  seven- 
ty stood  up  and  told  of  the  blessing  they 
had  received  through  Mr.  Moody's  preach- 
ing and  the  Word  of  God  as  it  had  been 
brought  before  their  minds.  This  indi- 
cates a  considerable  awakening;  for  I 
judge  that  for  every  one  who  comes  to  the 
inquiry  meeting  to  be  conversed  with, 
there  must  be  nine  who  go  home  with  the 
arrow  of  conviction  in  their  souls.  Few 
could  summon  up  courage  to  go  there  and 
face  strangers.  The  most  part  go  home  to 
weep,  and  pray,  and  read,  and  ponder 
alone. 

There  has  been  some  very  blessed  work 
this  evening.  There  seemed  to  be  a 
goodly  number  of  inquirers,  and  men  and 
v/omen  well  qualified  to  speak  with  them. 
We  were  occupied  with  four  young  men 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  evening,  and 
they  all  professed  faith  in  Christ,  but  we 
fear  they  only  saw  men  as  trees  walking ; 
but  if  there  is  life  the  liberty  will  come  by- 
and-by.  On  going  to  ask  Mr.  Moody  to 
come  to  speak  with  them,  I  found  him  at 
the  door  trying  to  find  out  the  condition 
of  all  that  went  out.  Just  as  I  went  up  to 
him,  he  was  saying  to  three  ladies,  "  Oh, 
surely  you  will  not  think  of  leaving  with- 
out Christ.     He  will  converse  with  you." 

And  so  saying,  he  got  them  down  on  a 
seat,  and  me  beside  them,  and  left.  I 
could  judge  from  their  Bibles,  that  were 
well  marked,  that  they  were  not  careless 
persons,  but  probably  Christians  who 
would  not  like  to  commit  themselves  by 


saying  they  were  "  saved,"  but  who  had  a 
secret  trust  in  Christ ;  and  I  think  I  was 
right,   for  no  sooner  did    I  bring   before 
them  in  an  earnest  and  personal  way  one 
or  two  texts,  than  they  seemed  deeply  in- 
terested ;  and  as  they  were  troubled  that 
they  had  not  sufficient  conviction  of  sin, 
they   appeared    to   be   greatly  helped   by 
being  told  that  I  had  no  deep  conviction 
of  sin — in  fact  no  appreciable  conviction 
of  sin  at  all;  but  that  I  felt  a  want,  and 
was  drawn  to  Christ  by  His  personal  love- 
liness, and  that  the   sin-crisis  came  a  year 
afterwards.     After  this  I  took  them  to  the 
precious  Word,  in  Romans  iii.  24-26,  and 
they  all  professed  faith   in  Jesus ;  and  I 
gave  them  back  into  Mr.  Moody's  hands, 
and  they  all  left  confessing  Christ.    At  this 
very  moment  a  lady  came  to  me  and  said, 
"  Dear  sir,  will  you  come   and  see  a  girl 
over  in  yon  corner  that  nobody  can  make 
anything  of.'*     She  says  she  came  to  hear 
Mr.   Moody  preach ;  she  has  never  been 
able  to  get  here  before,  and  he  has  not 
preached,    and   she   is    disappointed    and 
angry,  and  says  she  did  not  come  here  to 
be  spoken  to."     I  went  at  once,  asked  her 
to  come  to  a  quiet  place  where  I  could 
see  her  alone :  but  she  sat  like  a  marble 
statue  and  refused  to  come.    I  went  to  her 
and  tried  to  win  her  confidence,  but  could 
not  get  her   to    enter   into    conversation. 
At  first  I  tried  her  with  Acts  xiii.  38,  39, 
which  had  been  so  blessed  to  others,  but  I 
felt  it  was  useless,  and  the  sentiment  in 
the  word  of  Jesus  being  present   in  my 
mind,  "  This  kind  goeth  not  out  but  by 
prayer  and  fasting,"  I  looked  for  direction, 
and  turned  to  i  Peter  ii.  24.     She  felt  for 
her  handkerchief     I  looked  in  her  face 
and  saw  a  tear  trickling  down  her  cheek, 
and  at  length  I  heard  her  speak.     "  What 
are  you  saying?"  I  inquired.     "  That  was 
my  father's  text,"  and  she  wiped  away  her 
tears  and  told  me  how  her  father  had  died 
prepared  for  heaven  eight  months  ago,  and 
this  was  the  text  he  had  rested  on.  "And  you 
believe  your  father  is  in  heaven  ?"   "  Yes." 
"  And  you,  too,  can  be  prepared,  now,  just 
where  you  sit,  to  be  with  your  father  in 
heaven,  and  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  just  by 
believing  your  father's  text."     I  felt  deep- 
ly interested  in  her  case,  and  by  entering 
sympathetically    into    her    great    sorrow, 
gained  her  attention  to  the  gospel,  and  she 
left  professing  faith  in  her  father's  text  and 
her  father's   God.     He  knows  her  heart. 
May  He  finish  the  work  He  has  begun  ! 
Next  day,  as  I  was  talking  to  a  Free 


EDINBURGH. 


19 


Church  minister,  and  telling  him  of  this 
interesting  case,  and  the  direction  I  got  to 
the  right  word,  he  told  me  it  was  all  true, 
for  he  was  the  minister  who  visited  the 
dying  sailor,  and  that  he  had  given  him 
the  text,  "  VVho  His  ownself  bare  our  sins 
in  His  own  body  on  the  tree ;  "  and  he 
continued,  "  I  had  a  hope  of  him  (he  took 
his  word  back,  and  said),  I  should  not  say 
hope^  but  more  than  hope  ;  the  man  died 
a  believer  in  Christ."  He  said  he  would 
call  for  her  and  look  after  her.  Do  not 
those  leadings  look  remarkably  like  as  if 
she  vvere  a  sheep  of  Christ's  fold,  and  that 
the  Good  Shepherd  is  raising  up  one 
means  after  another  to  get  her  laid  upon 
His  shoulder  ?  One  under-shepherd  is 
sent  to  call  her  by  the  gospel,  another  to 
shepherd  her  in  the  right  ways  of  the 
Lord. 

After  this,  when  standing  near  the  door, 
the  lady  who  had  got  relief  regarding  sin- 
ning away  the  Holy  Ghost,  came  up  to  me 
and  said,  "  I  wanted  to  see  you,  to  tell  you 
how  astonished  I  was,  on  going  home  and 
seeing  your  name  on  the  book  given  me, 
to  find  that  you  were  the  author  of  '  The 
Blood  of  Jesus,'  a  book  given  me  in  Aus- 
tralia, on  my  marriage,  by  my  husband's 
aunt;  and  it  was  the  first  religious  book  I 
ever  read  with  any  interest.  It  struck  me 
much  that  after  traveling  round  the  world, 
I  should  come  into  contact  with  the  au- 
thor of  that  book,  to  be  set  at  liberty,  that 
I  might  rejoice  in  God's  salvation.  The 
circle  is  now  completed,  and  I  am  saved." 
Her  husband  is  in  America,  and  she  is 
here  under  an  eminent  physician.  Her 
soul  is  free.  May  the  Lord  bless  and 
keep  her  through  faith  unto  salvation  ! 

At  the  noon-day  prayer-meeting  to-day, 
one  who  spoke  said,  "  When  I  was  a  young 
man,  people  thought  that  I  was  going  into 
consumption,  and  I  consulted  a  physician, 
who  used  only  a  very  few  of  the  most 
powerful  medicines.  He  gave  me  a  dose 
that  made  me  sleep  for  two  days,  and  I 
could  not  be  awakened;  and  when  I 
.came  out  of  it,  I  had  a  sense  of  being 
poisoned,  and  a  most  unquenchable  thirst ; 
but  from  that  day  I  grew  better.  He 
nearly  killed  me,  but  he  cured  me.  So 
when  I  get  a  very  powerful  spiritual 
remedy  in  the  form  of  a  text,  I  keep  to  it 
in  conversing  with  anxious  souls  :  and  one 
I  have  jeen  very  much  used  is,  '  Be  it 
known  unto  you  therefore,  men  and  breth- 
ren, that  through  this  man  is  preached 
unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins  :  And  by 


Him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all 
things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be  justi- 
fied by  the  law  of  Moses.'  I  generally 
take  them  on  to  that  kindred  passage, 
Rom.  iii.  24-26,  which  explains  it.  And 
if  that  does  not  effect  my  purpose,  I  lead 
them  on  to  Rom.  x.  9,  '  That  if  thou  shalt 
confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God 
hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt 
be  saved.'  The  great  thing  for  solidity 
and  liberty  is  to  get  them  to  rest  on  the 
Word  of  God,  and  have  a  true  knowledge 
of  the  work  of  Christ." 

The  person  in  charge  at  the  place  of 
meeting,  who  was  anxious  to  have  the 
place  cleared  in  an  orderly  way  at  a  cer- 
tain hour,  and  the  meeting  solemnly  dis- 
missed with  prayer,  met  the  objection 
raised  against  it  by  telling  us  a  good  story. 
He  said,  ''  I  heard  a  minister  telling  how 
we  were  not  to  be  saved,  and  then  he  said 
he  would  tell  us  how  to  be  saved.  But, 
he  said,  I  had  only  a  few  minutes  to  stay, 
and  I  looked  at  my  watch  as  he  spoke  of 
the  ways  in  which  we  could  not  be  saved, 
and  I  longed  for  him  to  come  to  the  other 
side  and  tell  us  how  we  could  be  saved. 
But  before  he  came  to  that,  I  had  to 
leave ;  and  I  did  so,  and  what  happened  } 
Before  I  had  proceeded  many  steps  on  my 
way,  it  came  into  my  mind  that  Christ  is 
the  way — '  I  am  the  way,  ihe  'truth,  and 
the  life  ' — and  I  saw  it  all.  That  night  a 
friend  said,  '  How  could  you  see  the  way 
when  you  left  before  the  minister  came  to 
tell  the  way  to  be  saved  ? '  I  replied  that 
I  was  obliged  to  leave ;  but  I  did  not  need 
him  to  show  me  the  way — the  Lord  re- 
vealed Himself  to  me.  So  if  there  is  con- 
fidence in  the  God  of  all  grace,  the  meet- 
ing can  be  closed  at  a  seasonable  hour, 
and  servants  and  young  people  sent  away 
in  proper  time,  so  as  not  to  be  out  too  late, 
interfering  with  family  arrangements,  and 
exasperating  those  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  work,  and  giving  occasion  to  the  ene- 
my to  speak  reproachfully." 


X. 


FREE  CHURCH  ASSEMBLY  HALL 

Dec.  gth. — The  Hall  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing. Mr.  Moody  began  by  praying 
for  power,  and  that  many  to-night  should 
be  saved.  Mr.  Sankey  sang,  "  That  will 
be  Heaven  for  me!"     Rev.  Mr.  Wilson 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


read  out  the  requests  for,  and  led  in 
prayer.  Mr.  Moody  asked  prayer  for  a 
l.ady  in  great  distress  of  mind,  and  fcr 
another  present  to-night,  given  to  drink. 
He  prayed  earnestly  for  both,  especially 
that  the  latter  should  be  saved  from  a 
drunkard's  death,  a  drunkard's  grave,  and 
a  drunkard's  hell. 

Mr.  Moody  asked  Mr.  Sankey  to  sing  a 
hymn  composed  on  the  dying  words  of  a 
saint  in  Philadelphia,  a  few  month  ago,  "  I 
am  sweeping  through  the  gates,  washed  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb,"  which  was  sung 
with  deep  feeling,  and  prepared  all  for 
!Mr.  Moody,  who  announced  that  his  ad- 
dress was  for  the  inquiring,  as  well  as  the 
careless. 


XL 

UNITED  PRAYER  FOR  SCOTLAND. 

The  following  paper  has  just  been  issued, 
and  sent  to  every  minister  of  every  de- 
nomination in  Scotland.  Let  our  readers 
put  it  into  operation  wherever  they  are  : 

"  Edinburgh  is  now  enjoying  signal 
manifestations  of  grace.  Many  of  the 
Lord's  people  are  not  surprised  at  this. 
In  October  and  November  last,  they  met 
from  time  to  time  to  pray  for  it.  They 
hoped  that  they  might  have  a  visit  from 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  of  America, 
but  they  very  earnestly  besought  the  Lord 
that  He  would  deliver  them  from  depend- 
ing upon  them,  or  on  any  instrumentality, 
and  that  He  himself  would  come  with 
them,  or  come  before  them.  He  has  gra- 
ciously answered  that  prayer,  and  His 
own  presence  is  now  wonderfully  mani- 
fested, and  is  felt  to  be  among  them.  God 
is  so  affecting  the  hearts  of  men,  that  the 
Free  Church  Assembly  Hall,  the  largest 
public  building  in  Edinburgh,  is  crowded 
every  day  at  r.oon  with  a  meeting  for 
prayer  ;  and  that  building,  along  with  the 
Established  Church  Assembly  Hall,  over- 
flows every  evening,  when  the  gospel  is 
preached.  But  the  numbers  that  attend 
are  not  the  most  remarkable  feature.  It  is 
the  presence  and  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  solemn  awe,  the  prayerful,  be- 
lieving, expectant  spirit,  the  anxious  in- 
quiry of  unsaved  souls,  and  the  longing 
of  believers  to  grow  more  like  Christ, — 
their  hungering  and  thirsting  after  holiness. 
The  hall  of  the  Tolbooth  Church,  and  the 
Free  High  Church,  are  nightly  attended 
by  anxious  inquirers.    All  denominational 


and  social  distinctions  are  entirely  merged 
All  this  is  of  the  God  of  Grace. 

"  Another  proof  of  the  Holy  Spirit's 
presence  is,  that  a  desire  has  been  felt  and 
expressed  in  these  meetings,  that  all  Scot- 
land should  share  the  blessing  that  the 
capital  is  now  enjoying. 

"  It  is  impossible  that  our  beloved 
friends  from  America  should  visit  every 
place,  or  even  all  those  to  which  they  have 
been  urged  to  go.  But  this  is  not  neces- 
sary. The  Lord  is  willing  Himself  to  go 
wherever  He  is  truly  invited.  He  is  wait- 
ing. The  Lord's  people  in  Edinburgh 
therefore,  would  affectionately  entreat  all 
their  brethren  throughout  the  land  to  be 
importunate  in  invoking  Him  to  come  to 
them,  and  to  dismiss  all  doubt  as  to  His 
being  willing  to  do  so. 

The  week  of  prayer,  from  4th  to  nth 
January  next,  affords  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity for  combined  action.  In  every 
town  and  hamlet  let  there  be  a  daily 
meeting  for  prayer  during  that  week,  and 
also  as  often  as  may  be  before  it.  In 
Edinburgh  the  hour  is  from  12  to  i,  and 
where  the  same  hour  suits  other  places,  it 
would  be  pleasing  to  meet  together  in 
faith  at  the  throne  of  grace.  But  let  the 
prayers  not  be  formal,  unbelieving,  unex- 
pecting,  but  short,  fervent,  earnest  en- 
treaties, mingled  with  abounding  praise 
and  frequent  short  exhortations;  and  let 
them  embrace  the  Avhole  world,  that  God's 
way  may  be  known  upon  earth,  His  saving 
health  among  all  nations.  If  the  country 
will  thus  fall  on  their  knees,  the  God  who 
has  filled  our  national  history  with  the 
wonders  of  His  love,  will  come  again  and 
surprise  even  the  strongest  believers  by 
the  unprecedented  tokens  of  His  grace. 
"  Call  unto  me  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and 
show  thee  great  and  mighty  things  which 
thou  knowest  not." 

W.  G.  Blaikie,  D.D.,  Professor,  New  College. 

Charles  J.  Brown,  D.D.,  Free  North  Church. 

James  Balfour,  13  Eton  Terrace. 

H.  Calderwood,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy 

Lawrence  G.  Carter,  Charlotte  St.  Bap.  Chapel. 

A.  W.  Charteris,  D.D.,  Prof,  of  Bib.  Criticism 

John  Cooper,  late  of  fala,  U.P. 

G.  D.  Cullen,  Royal  Terrace. 

Cavan,  12  Lennox  Street. 

Alexander  Duff,  D.D. 

William  Dickson,  38  York  Place. 

David  Dickson,  Merchiston. 

F.  Brcwn  Douglas,  21  INIoray  Place. 

William  Grant,  Bristo  Place  Baptist  Chapel. 

William  Hanna,  D.D.,  16  Magdala  Crescenti 

John  Kelman,  Free  St.  John's,  Leith. 

Robert  Macdonald,  D.D.,  Free  North  Leith. 

James  Macgregor,  D.D.,  Prof.,  New  College. 


EDINBURGH. 


21 


John  Mncmurtree,  St.  Bernard's  Church. 

John  Millar,  26  York  Place. 

W.  Scott  Moncrieff,  St.  Thomas'  Episcopal  Ch. 

John  Morgan,  Viewforth  Free  Church. 

liavid  M'Laren,  Redfern  House. 

Duncan  M'Laren,  jiin.,  Newington  House. 

Samuel  Newnam,  Baptist  Church,  Dublin  St. 

Maxwell  Nicholson,  D.D.,  St.  Stephen's  Ch. 

Pohvarth,  Mertoun  House. 

Robert  Rainy,  D.D.,  Professor,  New  College. 

James  Robertson,  U.P.,  Newington. 

Mood}^  Stuart,  Free  St.  Luke's 

E.  Ers'kine  Scott,  25  Melville  Street. 

Andrew  Thompson,  D.D.,  Broughton  Place  Ch. 

John  Wemyss,  Richmond  Place  Congregational 

Church. 
Alexander  Wh3'te,  St.  George's  Free  Church. 
Ninian  Wight,  Congregational  Church. 
George  Wilson,  Tolbooth  I'arish  Church. 
J.  H.  Wilson,  Barclay  Free  Church. 
John  Young,  U.P.,  Newington. 


XII. 
"BRING   HIM   TO   ME." 

FREE    ASSEMBLY    HALL. 

Dec.  I  \th. — Mr.  Moody  spoke  from  Mark 
ix.  14-30.  Ver.  19 — "  Bring  him  to  me." 
Some  complain  that  their  prayers  are  not 
answered,  but  that  is  no  reason  for  being 
weary  or  waxing  faint.  The  thing  is  to 
inquire  the  reason  why  God  keeps  back 
answers  to  them. 

A  lady  came  to  me  to-day  and  said  that 
she  feared  her  two  sons  Avere  not  going  to 
be  saved,  but  they  will  if  she  continues  to 
pray  for  them.  Ver.  20 — Never  did  a 
sinner  come  to  Christ  yet,  that  the  devil 
did  not  throw  him  down  and  try  to  pre- 
vent him.     Ver.  21 — "  From  a  child." 

This  was  a  hard  case ;  he  had  inherited 
it.  Ver.  23 — "  To  him  that  believeth  all 
things  are  possible."  You  cannot  believe, 
mother  of  these  two  sons;  if  you  did,  you 
would  have  the  conversion  of  your  sons. 
Oh,  how  easy  it  is  for  God  to  take  the 
accursed  appetite  out  of  the  most  aban- 
doned drunkard,  and  restore  him  to  a 
right  mind ;  as  easy  for  Him  to  save  as  for 
me  to  turn  my  hand  round  ! 

*'  I  charge  thee,  come  out  of  him."  A 
little  time  of  praying  and  fasting,  of  being 
alone  with  God,  of  inquiry  of  Him  in 
what  way  we  hinder  His  blessing  us,  that 
is  the  thing  which  we  want. 

During  the  American  war,  when  hus- 
bands, fathers,  and  brothers  were  away  on 
the  battle-fields,  their  wives,  daughters,  and 
mothers  learnt  to  pray,  and  many  an  hour 
was  spent  by  them  in  their  closets  alone 
with  God.     The  results  were  marvelous, 


and  that,  too,  in  the  case  oft  the  wickedest 
and  most  depraved  men  in  the  army. 

One  day  at  Nashville  a  great,  strong, 
wicked-looking  soldier  came  to  me  trem- 
bling. He  said  he  had  got  this  letter 
from  his  sister,  six  hundred  miles  away, 
and  she-  said  that  she  prayed  to  God, 
night  after  night,  that  he  should  be  saved, 
and  he  said  he  could  not  stand  to  hear 
that,  and  he  had  come  to  give  himself  to 
Christ ;  and  there  and  then  we  knelt  down 
together  in  prayer  to  God,  he  crushed  and 
broken  in  heart. 

Oh,  what  a  privilege  we  have  in  coming 
to  God  in  prayer  about  our  friends  !  Our 
prayers  may  not  be  answered  to-day;  we 
may  be  in  our  graves  before  they  are  •  but 
assuredly  they  will  be  answered  sometime. 

Another  soldier  came  to  me  and  said  he 
had  got  a  letter  from  his  mother,  saying 
that  she  prayed  morning,  noon,  and  night 
for  his  conversion ;  that  this  letter  might 
be  the  last  he  would  ever  get  from  her,  as 
he  might  be  killed  in  battle.  "  I  said  when 
I  got  it,  that  I  would  wait  till  the  war  was 
over,  and  I  would  go  home  and  settle 
down  and  be  a  Christian :  but  I  hear  to- 
day that  mother  is  dead,  that  that  letter 
was  the  last  she  ever  wrote,  so  I  have 
come  to  give  myself  to  my  mother's  God," 
which  he  did.  Both  these  men  found 
peace  in  Jesus,  and  became  bright  and 
shining  lights  in  the  army. 


XIII. 

CHILDREN'S  MEETING. 

Saturday^  Dec.  Y^th. — There  were  about 
two  thousand  persons  present  at  the  noon- 
day meeting  to-day,  about  one-half  chil- 
dren and  young  people  It  was  a  time  of 
much  blessing,  both  in  prayer,  singing,  and 
speaking  the  word  of  grace. 

Mr.  Moody  spoke  very  appropriately 
from  the  words,  "  /  will  hold  thee  by  thy 
right  hand."  He  showed  that  we  need 
Jesus  to  save  us,  and  then  to  take  us  by 
the  right  hand  and  lead  us.  He  told  a 
story  of  an  ill-used  dog  having  been 
thrust  by  a  bad  man  through  the  grat- 
ings into  the  lion's  den,  and  how  that 
lion  became  its  protector,  and  applied  it 
to  illustrate  the  truth  that  the  Lion  of 
Judah  becomes  our  protector. 


22 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


XIV. 

TWO  SOLDIERS. 

We  saw  some  precious  cases  of  resting 
on  the  Saviour  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland.  Among  others, 
we  were  deeply  interested  in  two  soldiers. 
One  of  them  said  they  had  many  warn- 
ings :  a  soldier  who  had  been  boasting  the 
one  day  that  he  had  not  read  the  Bible 
since  he  was  a  boy,  was  drowned  the  next. 
I  began  there  and  laid  before  him  from 
the  Word  of  God  the  way  to  be  ready  for 
death  in  any  form.  Christ  was  pressed  on 
him,  and  he  professed  his  faith  in  Him. 
The  other  one  was  trembling  all  over  with 
anxiety  about  his  soul.  I  tried  to  anchor 
him  on  the  Word  of  God's  grace,  and  got 
a  text  fixed  in  his  mind,  on  which  he  pro- 
fessed to  rest.  But  I  was  not  entirely 
satisfied  that  either  of  them  saw  the  way 
of  life  clearly,  though  I  considered  them 
truly  awakened.  The  next  night,  as  I 
was  speaking  to  an  inquiring  child,  the 
soldier  who  had  trembled  with  conviction 
the  night  before,  came  up  to  me  with  a 
look  of  assured  peace  and  told  me  that  the 
Lord  had  had  mercy  on  him  and  saved 
him. 

"When  was  it,  do  you  think.?"  I  in- 
quired. 

"It  was  when  I  was  lying  awake  at  four 
in  the  morning  thinking  over  the  text  that 
you  gave  me,  that  Jesus  came  into  my 
heart." 

"  The  Lord  be  praised  !  But  now  that 
you  are  pardoned,  you  will  need  to  trust 
in  Christ  and  abide  in  Him,  and  be  strong 
in  the  Lord  and  the  power  of  His  might, 
and  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  and  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life.  *  In  the  Lord  have  I 
righteousness  and  strength.'  Ask  God 
that,  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  He  may  enable 
you  to  bear  all  opposition  with  firmness 
and  meekness,  witness  a  good  confession, 
and  seek  to  bring  your  comrades  to  Him." 

We  heard  of  the  other  soldier  that  he, 
too,  had  come  to  Christ,  and  become  one 
of  His  soldiers. 


XV. 

MEETINGS  IN  THE   NORTH  OF 
EDINBURGH. 

Dec.  2oth. — There  have  been  meetings 
held  this  week  in  the  north  of  Edinburgh, 
in  St.  Stephen's,  St.  Bernard's,  and  Free 
St.  Bernard's  churches.     Fully  2,000  have 


been  out  nightly,  and  have  heard  the  gos- 
pel, both  in  preaching  and  song,  in  such  a 
way  as  to  bring  home  conviction  to  many 
consciences.  Numbers  have  waited,  and 
come  to  the  second  meeting  for  personal 
conversation,  and  some  have  found  peace, 
as  on  the  former  evenings ;  but  we  have  a 
theory  that  only  one  in  ten  of  the  anxious 
wait :  nine  leave  to  weep,  pray,  and  read 
in  secret.  The  gospel  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieveth,  and  thousands  are  hearing  it  in  all 
its  naked  simplicity,  and  preached  with 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  this 
we  praise  God !  Why  should  it  ever 
cease .?  Why  not  go  round  the  city  and 
rouse  up  every  slumbering  church,  and  get 
souls  saved  in  thousands  1 

We  met  with  one  specially  interesting 
case  in  St.  Stephen's.  It  was  that  of  a 
respectable  married  woman,  who  had  felt 
as  if  there  were  something  calling  her  to 
stay,  and  she  tarried  and  received  blessing. 
Satan  was  very  busy  to  get  me  to  leave  the 
place,  but  he  did  not  succeed.  The  gen- 
tleman who  was  conversing  with  her  came 
up  to  me,  and  asked  me  to  speak  a  little 
to  her,  which  I  did,  and  in  course  of  con- 
versation she  said — "  I  heard  you  preach 
at  Auchincairn  about  ten  years  ago ;  and 
my  husband  wrote  to  you,  and  has  a  tune 
ofhis  in  your  ''''Praise-Book." 

This  led  to  my  asking  her  to  tell  him  to 
come  and  see  me  some  morning  at  nine 
o'clock.  He  came  the  next  morning ;  and 
after  we  had  looked  over  some  music  to- 
gether, I  asked  him  how  his  wife  was  feel- 
ing now .?  He  told  me  that  she  was  very 
anxious  to  be  sure  she  was  right ;  and  he 
said,  "  I  wish,  Mr.  Reid,  you  would  speak 
to  me  too." 

"  Then  take  that  Testament,  and  let  us 
read  a  little  together."  We  read  Rom.  iii. 
24-26,  and  I  John  iv.  9-19,  and  other  pass- 
ages, "  giving  the  sense,"  and  urging  him 
to  make  a  personal  application  of  it  to 
himself,  and  he  would  experience  life  and 
liberty.  He  did  so,  and  went  away,  thank- 
ing me  for  my  explanation  of  the  Word, 
looking  as  if  he  had  experienced  the  lib- 
erty of  grace.  The  friend  who  introduced 
this  woman  to  me  saw  them  both,  farther 
on  in  the  afternoon,  and  reported  to  me 
that  he  had  had  as  happy  a  time  as  he  had 
ever  had,  talking  with  them  over  the  Scrip- 
tures; and  he  believes  they  both  have  got 
into  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes 
His  people  free. 

A   Bible-woman   came    up   to   me   the 


EDINBURGH. 


23 


other  night,  and  said,  "  It  was  your  book, 
'  The  Spirit  of  Jesus,'  that  gave  me  the 
impetus  that  sent  me  out  in  this  work.  I 
got  a  great  blessing  in  reading  it." 
"  Where  were  you  at  that  time  7  " 
"  In  Unst,  one  of  the  Shetland  islands." 
We  were  glad  to  hear  of  this  little  bit  of 
fruit  after  many  days ;  for  it  is  ten  years 
since  we  sent  some  hundreds  of  books  to 
be  distributed  in  Shetland,  and  have  heard 
very  Tttle  about  the  spiritual  results.  But 
everything  the  Spirit  stirs  up  to  do  for 
Christ  will  be  used  by  Him,  whether  we 
hear  of  it  now  or  not  (Eccles.  xi.  6). 


XVI. 

BIBLE  LECTURES  IN  FREE  ST. 
GEORGE'S  AND  FREE  ST.  LUKE'S. 

There  have  been  two  Bible  readings  in 
Free  St.  George's  Church,  on  Dec.  i6th 
and  19th,  on  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Assur- 
ance;  and  another  in  Free  St.  Luke's 
Church,  on  Dec.  23,  on  the  Blood. 

Mr.  Moody  gives  what  is  commonly 
knoAvn  as  a  Bible  reading — only  he  him- 
self does  all  the  reading  and  speaking. 
Abou;  1,500  were  present,  chiefly  of  the 
educated  class.  Many  of  the  ministers  of 
the  various  churches  were  present,  and 
the  effect  on  all  these  occasions  was  mark- 
ed and  marvelous.  Christians  received  a 
great  blessing. 


XVII. 

SPECIAL    MEETINGS. 

Mr.  Moody  has  addressed  some  special 
meetings  in  Free  Assembly  Hall. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  December  14,  he 
addressed  the  young  men  of  the  Sabbath- 
morning  Fellowship  Union. 

On  Friday,  December  19,  he  preached 
to  young  men  on  being  born  again. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  December  21,  he 
addressed  Sabbath-school  teachers. 

The  same  evening  he  preached  to  the 
students  of  Edinburgh  University  and  the 
New  College,  on  "  There  is  no  difference." 
This  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
sights  I  have  ever  witnessed.  On  the 
platform  with  him  were  numbers  of  pro- 
fessors of  both  colleges,  and,  I  believe,  the 
majority  of  the  students.  The  hall  was 
densely  crowded,  and  I  question  whether 
he  ever  addressed  a  more  intelligent  au- 
dience, or  one  that  gave  him  more  pro- 


found and  riveted  attention.  Had  they 
not  had  confidence  in  him,  and  felt  his 
power,  and,  we  trust,  the  higher  power  of 
God's  Spirit  and  truth,  they  would  not 
have  sat  for  more  than  two  hours  with 
such  quietness.  He  commanded  that  im- 
mense meeting,  of  about  two  thousand 
men,  as  no  man  on  that  platform,  save  Dr. 
Duff,  could  have  done.  The  living  power 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit  was  felt  giving  the 
word,  and  laying  conviction  on  the  con- 
science. The  gospel  given  at  the  end  was 
most  touchingly  illustrated,  and  the  very 
appropriate  hymn  sung  by  Mr.  Sankey, 
"  I  am  sweeping  through  the  gates,"  gave 
a  spiritual  finish  to  the  whole  that  had 
been  spoken.  It  was  an  opportunity  such 
as  no  man  ever  before  enjoyed  here ;  and 
we  cannot  doubt  but  that  God  has  given 
and  used  it  for  the  conversion  of  souls  and 
the  glory  of  Christ. 

THE    all-day's    meeting. 

This  was  held  on  December  17,  the  first 
meeting  lasting  six  hours.  Subjects — i. 
Praise  and  joy.  2.  Promises.  3.  Prayer. 
4.  Christian  work;  and  5.  Heaven. 


XVIII. 

MEN'S   MEETING  AT   THE  CORN 
EXCHANGE. 

At  half-past  eight  o'clock,  December 
29,  there  was  a  meeting  held  in  the  Corn 
Exchange,  Grassmarket,  which  was  at- 
tended by  about  3,000  persons  belonging 
to  the  poorer  classes.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Morgan  opened  this  meeting  with  prayer. 

Mr.  Moody  began  his  address  by  telling 
the  well-known  story  about  Rowland  Hill 
and  Lady  Erskine.  Her  ladyship  was 
driving  past  a  crowd  of  people  to  whom 
Hill  was  preaching.  She  asked  who  the 
preacher  was,  and,  on  being  informed, 
told  her  coachman  to  drive  nearer.  Row- 
land Hill,  seeing  her  approach,  asked  who 
she  was,  and  when  he  was  told,  he  said 
there  was  a  soul  there  for  sale.  Who 
would  bid,  he  asked,  for  Lady  Erskine's. 
soul.?  There  was  Satan's  offer.  He  would 
give  pleasure,  honor,  position,  and,  in  fact,, 
the  whole  world.  There  was  also,  he  said,, 
the  offer  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  would, 
give  pardon,  peace,  joy,  rest,  and  at  last 
heaven  and  glory.  He  then  asked  Lady 
Erskine  which  of  these  bids  she  would: 
accept.  Ordering  her  coachman  to  open, 
her  carriage-door,  she   pressed  her  way 


24 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


through  the  crowd  to  where  the  preacher 
was,  and  said,  "  Lord  Jesus,  I  give  my  soul 
to  Thee;  accept  of  it." 

Mr.  Moody  went  on  to  urge  on  his 
hearers  to  give  themselves  there  and  then 
to  the  same  Saviour  who  was  that  day 
preached  in  the  hearing  of  Lady  Erskine, 
and  accepted  by  her.  He  brought  out  the 
freeness  of  the  gospel  offer,  and  the  im- 
portance of  immediately  closing  with  it. 
He  mentioned  several  instances  of  con- 
version— one  of  them  concerning  a  soldier, 
who  had  been  at  the  meeting  of  the  pre- 
vious night  in  that  same  hall,  and  who  had 
afterwards  gone  up  to  the  Assembly  Hall, 
had  received  Christ  there,  and  was  now 
professing  himself  a  Christian  man. 

Mr.  Sankey  sang  several  of  his  hymns 
— "The  Lifeboat,"  "Jesus  of  Nazareth 
passeth  by,"  and  "The  Prodigal  Child" 
being  amongst  them. 

The  meeting  on  Sunday  night  (Dec. 
28)  seems  to  have  been  the  most  extra- 
ordinary of  all  these  meetings.  Though 
there  were  about  5,000  persons  present, 
the  most  perfect  order  was  observed,  and 
the  deepest  interest  manifested  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. After  this  meeting  was  over, 
hundreds  pressed  up  to  the  Free  Assembly 
Hall,  and  when  the  question  was  put  if 
there  were  any  there  anxious  about  their 
souls  and  desiring  to  be  saved,  the  whole 
body  rose  to  their  feet  in  answer  to  the 
question.  The  interest  shown  was  such 
as  many  of  those  present  had  never  be- 
fore seen  in  the  course  of  a  long  ministry 
amongst  the  people.  Mr.  Moody  expressed 
himself  as  more  impressed  by  it  than  he 
had  been  by  anything  he  had  ever  before 
seen. 

XIX. 

SATURDAY  AND  SABBATH  MEET- 
INGS. 

On  Saturday,  at  noon,  the  usual  union 
prayer-meeting  was  held  in  the  Free  As- 
sembly Hall.  Besides  Mr.  Moody,  Mr. 
Robertson,  Mr.  Cooper,  Mr.  W.  Dickson, 
Mr.  Daniel,  and  Mr.  John  Wilson,  took 
each  an  active  part  in  it.  Mr.  Sankey  was 
present  during  half  of  the  hour,  spending 
the  remainder  in  the  Established  Assembly 
Hall,  where  another  large  meeting  was 
held,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wilson  (Jan.  3d.) 

On  Sabbath  morning  Mr.  Moody  deliv- 
ered an  address  to  a  crowded  congregation 
in  the  Free  Assembly  Hall  on  "  Daniel," 


with  reference  specially  to  the  lessons  to 
be  learned  from  his  life.  Mr.  Sankey  sang 
appropriate  hymns. 

Mr.  Moody  preached  on  Sabbath  fore- 
noon in  Free  St.  George's  Church,  his  sub 
ject  being,  "What  Christ  has  done  for 
man."  This  he  treated  very  generally.  In 
the  afternoon  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
conducted  evangelistic  services  in  the  Free 
Assembly  Hall  and  the  Free  High  Church 
at  five  o'clock,  and  in  the  Established  As- 
sembly Hall  and  Free  St.  John's  Church  at 
six  o'clock — these  meetings  being  for  fe- 
males only.  The  Jubilee  Singers  sang  at 
each  of  these  meetings.  There  was  an  im- 
mense meeting  in  the  Corn  Exchange, 
Grassmarket,  at  seven  o'clock.  The  great 
hall  was  filled  with  people,  who  stood 
closely  packed  together  in  every  part  of  it. 
There  must  have  been  between  6,000  and 
7,000  persons  present.  Short  addresses 
were  delivered  by  several  ministers  and 
laymen,  frequent  prayer  engaged  in,  and  a 
great  number  of  hymns  sung  by  Mr.  San- 
key and  the  Jubilee  Singers.  These 
hymns  had  each  of  them  a  bearing  on  the 
thoughts  or  sentiments  that  formed  the 
themes  of  the  addresses  by  which  they 
were  preceded.  There  was  the  most  per- 
fect quiet  observed  by  the  vast  assemblage, 
and  both  addresses  and  hymns  were  list- 
ened to  with  the  utmost  attention. 

In  his  address  Mr.  Moody  pointed  out 
that  though  it  was  because  of  Adam's  sin 
man  was  condemned,  it  was  not  because 
of  it  that  any  one  would  be  lost,  but  be- 
cause they  neglected  to  lay  hold  of  the 
remedy. 

Mr.  Moody  preached  to  about  fifteen 
thousand  this  first  Lord's-day  of  1874,  at 
seven  different  times.  His  passion  for  sav- 
ing souls  is  self-consuming.  Let  all  Chris- 
tians pray  that  he  may  be  upheld  by  God, 
in  body  and  soul,  and  blessed  more  and 
more. 

XX. 

EVANGELISTIC  MEETINGS  IN 
BERWICK-ON-TWEED. 

Tuesday,  January  13th,  was  a  mem- 
orable day  in  the  religious  history  of 
Berwick.  It  having  been  announced  that 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were  to  visit 
the  town  on  that  day  and  hold  meetings, 
large  numbers  of  people  were  brought 
into  the  town  by  the  several  lines  of  rail- 
way, from  distances  of  twenty  and  thirty 
miles.    The  forenoon  trains  down  the  vale 


EDINB  URGH. 


25 


of  the  Tweed  were  extremely  crowded ; 
but  additional  carriages  were  provided  for 
the  return  journey.  In  one  carriage,  an 
interesting  account  of  the  Edinburgh 
meetings  of  the  previous  day  was  read 
from  a  daily  paper ;  in  another  carriage 
we  heard  the  singing  of  hymns  ;  and  in 
all,  the  one  subject  of  conversation  was 
the  meetings  to  which  most  of  the  passen- 
gers seemed  to  be  on  their  way.  The 
readiness  with  which  people  were  allowed 
to  enter  at  the  various  stations  into  com- 
partments where  there  was  only  standing- 
room,  was  something  new  in  the  experience 
of  railway  traveling.  The  first  meeting 
Degan  at  noon,  being  the  mid-day  prayer- 
meeting,  which  is  held  daily  in  the  Rev. 
James  Stevens'  church  for  one  hour.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Chedburn  presided,  and  short 
prayers  were  offered  by  a  number  of  min- 
isters and  laymen,  between  which'  hymns 
were  sung  with  much  spirit.  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  arrived  from  Edin- 
burgh shortly  after  the  meeting  commenc- 
ed, and  both  delivered  short  addresses. 
The  under  part  of  the  church  was  filled, 
many  strangers  being  present.  Two 
meetings  were  held  in  the  Corn  Ex- 
change ;  the  former  beginning  at  two  o'clock 
P.M.  The  great  hall  of  the  Exchange  was 
filled,  and  the  passages  occupied,  though 
not  so  closely  packed  as  in  the  evening. 
Mr.  Sankey  sang,  and  Mr.  Moody  preach- 
ed from  Rom.  iii.  22,  "  There  is  no  differ- 
ence." The  acoustic  principles  on  which 
the  hall  is  constructed  are  not  good,  and 
Mr.  Moody  was  imperfectly  heard  in  many 
parts ;  but  Mr.  Sankey's  fine  voice  was 
heard  in  every  corner.  Mr.  Moody  closed 
his  discourse  with  the  touching  narrative 
of  the  return  of  a  prodigal ;  and  Mr. 
Sankey  immediately  sang  with  thrilling 
effect  his  Christian  song,  "  The  Prodigal 
Child,"  beginning,  "  Come  home,  come 
home,  thou  art  weary  at  heart,"  etc.  It 
seemed  to  take  the  vast  congregation  by 
surprise,  and  was  the  first  thing  that 
powerfully  affected  them.  It  was  most 
aptly  chosen,  and  gave  a  very  favorable 
illustration  of  what  is  called  "  singing  the 
gospel."  A  number  of  anxious  inquirers 
waited,  and  were  conversed  with  after  the 
meeting  was  closed. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  in  Wallace 
Green  Church  at  six  o'clock.  The  large 
church  was  well  filled  in  the  lower  part, 
with  a  few  people  in  the  galleries  ;  but  the 
great  body  of  the  people  had  gone  to  the 
Corn  Exchange  to  wait  till  seven  o'clock, 


the  hour  announced  for  commencing  the 
service  there.  When  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  met  with  the  ministers  in  Dr. 
Cairns'  room  at  Wallace  Green  Church,  a 
message  was  brought  that  the  great  hall 
of  the  Exchange  was  already  filled  in 
every  part.  Two  ministers  were  then  ap- 
pointed to  address  the  vast  assemblage 
while  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were 
engaged  in  Wallace  Green.  The  Rev. 
Messrs.  Mearns,  of  Coldstream,  and  Leitch, 
of  Newcastle,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Moody, 
addressed  the  audience  in  the  Exchange. 
The  male  part  of  the  audience  seemed  to 
preponderate.  It  was  a  vast  mass  of 
earnest  listeners.  We  observed  ministers 
of  all  denominations  present  from  the 
towns  and  villages  of  the  neighborhood, 
extending  over  a  wide  district,  many  of 
whom  remained  for  the  evening  meeting. 
Reference  was  made  in  one  of  the  ad- 
dresses in  the  Exchange  to  the  case  of  a 
mother  who,  by  believing,  had  entered 
into  peace  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day, 
and  requested  thanks  to  be  returned  for 
the  blessing  she  had  received,  and  prayer 
to  be  offered.for  the  recovery  of  her  prodi- 
gal son.  This  was  mentioned  as  the  first 
convert  of  the  day,  and  the  fact  was  re- 
ceived as  a  proof  of  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  the  prayers  which 
had  been  offered  for  a  great  blessing  to 
accompany  the  services  of  that  day.  This 
circumstance  seemed  to  make  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  audience,  and  enabled 
them  to  realize  the  fact  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  was  indeed  among  them  in  answer  to 
prayer.  It  was  afterwards  found  in  the 
inquirers'  meeting  that  many  had  been  so 
deeply  impressed  in  the  Exchange  that 
they  felt  constrained  to  come  among  the 
anxious,  asking  to  be  directed  to  the  Sav- 
iour. Mr.  Sankey's  singing  excited  won- 
derful interest.  "  Sweeping  through  the 
gates,"  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by," 
and  others,  seemed  to  produce  a  deep  im- 
pression. 

When  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  left 
Wallace  Green  for  the  Exchange,  the 
meeting  was  continued  in  the  former 
place,  and  addresses  by  the  Revs.  Dr. 
Cairns,  R.  Scott,  of  Berwick,  and  P. 
Mearns,  of  Coldstream.  The  audience 
gradually  increased,  till  near  the  close  of 
the  third  address,  such  a  crowd  rushed 
into  the  spacious  church  as  to  fill  every 
passage  above  and  below.  It  was  soon 
explained  that  this  was  the  second  meet- 
ing, which  had  been  adjourned  from  the 


26 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Exchange    to    the    church,   where    there 
were     rooms    for     conversing    with     the 
anxious  in  a  more  private  manner.     After 
the  protracted  services  of  the  day  it  might 
have  been   expected  that  all   the  people 
would   have    gone  home,  as   it  was  now 
half-past  eight  o'clock,  and  many  had  been 
occupied   with   a   succession   of   services 
from   noon.      The   second   meeting,    too, 
possessed  no  peculiar  attraction,  consist- 
ing only  of  short  addresses  with    praise 
and  prayer.       But  the  people  were   evi- 
dently moved  by  an  influence  which  all 
could  feel,  but  not  fully  explain.      After 
two  days,  Dr.  Cairns  thus  wrote  of  it  to 
the  Daily  Review  :  "  I  cannot  attempt  to 
describe  the  appearance  of  Wallace  Green 
Church  at  the  evening  meeting  on  Tues- 
day, when  the  overwhelming  meeting  in 
the  Corn  Exchange  was   dismissed,   and 
those  who  gathered  for  prayer,  with  the 
anxious  inquirers,  crowded  in  to  fill  every 
corner  of  the  spacious  church.    The  shad- 
ow   of    eternity    seemed    cast    over    the 
great  congregation.     Many  were  observed 
to  be  in  tears ;  and  as  the  inquirers,  with 
hurried  and   trembling  step,  passed   into 
the  vestry  (though  others  found  a  more 
private   entrance),   the    deepest   awe  and 
sympathy  pervaded  the   meeting.      This 
continued  for   a   full    hour,   and    such    a 
gathering  I  hardly  ever  expect  again  to  see 
in  this  world." 

While  short  addresses  were  being  de- 
livered by  Mr.  Moody  and  others,  an  im- 
pulse seemed  to  fall  on  individuals,  one 
by  one,  which  powerfully  drew  them  into 
the  anxious  meeting,  where  ministers  and 
laymen  were  appointed  to  converse  with 
them. 

Altogether,  Tuesday  was  a  memorable 
day  in  Berwick ;  the  like  of  -it,  as  Dr. 
Cairns  remarked,  had  never  before  been 
seen  in  the  memory  of  its  inhabitants. 

Meetings  were  held  on  the  evenings  of 
Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday.  A 
large  number  of  additional  inquirers  wait- 
ed for  conversation.  Dr.  Cairns  expresses 
a  hope,  in  which  all  must  cordially  unite, 
when  he  says,  "  I  feel  constrained  to  add 
my  testimony  to  the  profound  impression 
which  has,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  been 
made  on  the  town.  I  trust  it  will  be  as 
solid  and  permanent  as  it  is  at  present 
visible." 

On  Sabbath  evening  the  Exchange  was 
crowded,  when  addresses  were  delivered, 
and  a  large  number  of  additional  inquirers 
waited  for  conversation.      The  meetings 


were  continued  during  the  week,  the  min- 
isters of  the  town  being  assisted  by  friends 
from  Edinburgh." 


XXI. 

SUMMARY  OF   THE   AWAKENING 
IN  EDINBURGH. 

Jafu  Wi. — During  the  last  two  weeks 
much  progress  has  been  made  by  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  in  reaching  the  masses 
of  the  population  of  Edinburgh  with  the 
gospel  of  their  salvation. 

Tens  of  thousands  of  men,  women,  and 
children  of  all  classes  of  the  community 
have  crowded  the  halls  and  churches 
where  they  have  preached  and  sung  of 
Christ  and  the  gospel. 

Multitudes  of  men  assembled  in  the 
Corn  Exchange,  and  multitudes  of  women 
in  the  Assembly  Halls  and  adjoining 
churches  on  the  Lord's  day  to  hear  words 
whereby  they  might  be  saved ;  and  on  the 
week  days  the  daily  prayer-meeting,  noon 
and  night,  was  crowded  with  eager,  anxious 
throngs  of  Christians  or  anxious  ones ; 
while  in  theNewington  U.P.  Church  and 
the  Canongate  Parish  Church,  fully  three 
thousand  came  together  nightly  to  listen 
to  the  singing  and  preaching  of  the  glorious 
gospel  of  Christ. 

Bible  lectures  have  been  held  in  the 
Free  Assembly  Hall,  Viewforth  Church, 
West  Coates  Church,  and  Free  St.  Mary's, 
and  thereby  many  have  received  clearer 
light  on  the  gospel,  more  stable  standing 
on  the  sure  foundation,  and  blessed  freedom 
from  bondage. 

Mr.  Moody's  excellent  plan  of  making 
the  Bible  speak  for  itself  by  quoting  text 
after  text  and  commenting  on  them,  and 
enforcing  them  by  striking  illustrations, 
has  been  of  eminent  use  among  Christians 
who  had  life  but  no  liberty.  Christ  has 
said  through  him  to  many  a  bound  and 
groaning  one,  "  Loose  him,  and  let  him 
go." 

Mr.  Moody's  clear  preaching  of  grace 
reigning  through  righteousness  and  salva- 
tion by  grace  without  the  works  of  the 
law,  and  the  believer's  place  in  Christ 
where  there  is  now  no  condemnation,  and 
sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  us,  be- 
cause we  are  not  under  law  but  under 
grace,  is  fitted  to  give  immediate  relief  to 
burdened,  unclear,  and  legal  Christians,  of 
whom  we  have  crowds. 


EDINB  URGH. 


27 


His  mind  has  evidently  been  in  contact 
with  clear  Scripture  teachings,  such  as  one 
seldom  meets  with  in  our  day :  for  he  has 
learned  to  draw  his  words  of  grace  and 
truth  from  the  clear  crystal  river  of  divine 
Revelation,  and  not  from  the  muddy 
streams  of  human  theology  ;  and  if  we, 
ministers  of  Christ,  are  still  to  get  a  hear- 
ing from  the  people  who  have  hung  as  if 
spell-bound  on  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Moody, 
we  must  preach  in  the  same  simple,  scrip- 
tural, loving,  and  direct  manner.  He  has 
lifted  up  a  crucified  and  glorified  Christ, 
honored  the  Holy  Ghost  by  believing  in 
His  constant  presence  and  grace,  and  his 
gospel  has  been  made  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  unnumbered  souls.  We 
calculate  that  as  many  as  30,000  have 
listened  to  his  beseeching  voice. 

The  work  of  grace  is  no  doubt  deep, 
wide-spread,  and  extraordinary,  as  com- 
pared with  the  state  of  things  spiritually 
previous  to  the  coming  of  those  earnest 
men ;  but  it  is  only  the  ordinary  and 
normal  result  of  prayer  and  preaching, 
which  the  model  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
warrants  us  in  expecting  when  all  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ  are  continuing  with  one 
•accord  in  prayer  and  supplications,  and  in 
dependence  in  the  Holy  Ghost  are  bend- 
ing all  their  energies  to  the  one  work  of 
getting  the  Christ  of  God  magnified  by  the 
conversion  of  perishing  souls.  When  we 
consider  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  minis- 
ters and  Christian  people  of  Edinburgh 
have  been  doing  almost  nothing  else  for 
nearly  two  months  but  giving  themselves 
to  receive  blessing,  and  to  co-operate  with 
our  excellent  friends  to  make  the  gospel 
triumphant  in  the  city ;  and  when  we  con- 
sider that  there  has  been  this  concerted, 
continued,  and  concentrated  effort  towards 
this  one  thing,  we  have  hardly  seen  so 
much  fruit  as  we  might  reasonably  have 
•  expected ;  and  we  are  very  sure  if  there 
had  not  been  much  grieving  and  quench- 
ing of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  amongst  us 
in  connection  with  this  work,  both  secretly 
and  openly.  He  would  have  wrought  with 
mightier  power,  and  the  harvest  of  souls 
would  have  been  much  more  abundant. 

There  has  never  been,  as  in  other  days, 
thousands  pentecostally  smitten  simultane- 
ously :  whole  meetings  arrested  as  in  the 
years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High 
in  times  past,  and  made  to  stand  still  and 
see  the  salvation  of  God.  Might  the  Lord 
not  have  given  such  power  as  would  have 
left  hundreds,  instead  of  tens,  anxiously  in- 


quiring what  must  we  do,  if  there  had  been 
an  entire  exclusion  of  "  the  flesh  "  and  a 
total  self-surrender  on  the  part  of  Chris- 
tians, more  regard  for  the  glory  of  Christ, 
less  grieving  and  quenching  and  more 
honoring  of  the  Holy  Ghost } 

We  do  not  quite  sympathize  with  some 
of  the  things  which  have  been  said  about 
Mr.  Moody's  preaching,  and  especially 
that  he  is  not  eloquent.  What,  we  would 
ask,  makes  the  meetings  flat  when  he  is 
absent  but  the  want  of  a  quality  he  pos- 
sesses }  and  what  makes  them  full  of  life 
and  spiritual  emotion  when  he  is  present, 
but  just  the  superior  divine  eloquence 
which  flows  in  his  burning  words,  as  if  an 
electric  current  were  passing  through  every 
heart  1 

He  is  the  most  powerful  speaker — the 
most  eloquent  preacher — who  most  fully 
carries  an  audience  with  him  and  produces 
the  greatest  results;  and  if  Mr.  Moody 
is  judged  by  such  a  rule,  he  is  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  of  living  men,  for  none  of 
us  here  who  are  ministers  feel  the  least  de- 
sire to  speak  if  he  is  present,  for  with  all 
our  university  training  we  acknowledge 
his  superior  power  as  a  heaven-commis- 
sioned evangelist.  He  has  the  all-powerful 
eloquence  of  a  man  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith,  and  fired  with  indomitable 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  Christ  and  the  salva- 
tion of  souls.  He  may  be  devoid  of  rhet- 
oric (and  that,  we  suppose,  is  meant),  and 
he  may  use  his  freedom  in  extemporizing 
grammar  to  suit  himself,  but  withal  Moody 
is  the  most  eloquent,  as  he  is  the  most 
successful  preacher  amongst  us.  The  Lord 
be  praised  for  giving  such  gifts  to  men,  and 
for  the  thousands  of  souls  He  has  convert- 
ed by  him  in  this  city,  or  set  into  the  lib- 
erty of  grace  by  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
Christ  and  His  finished  work. 

What  masses  of  young  people  from  the 
schools  crowded  the  meetings  during  the 
holidays  !  And  so  great  has  been  the  at- 
traction of  the  singing  of  the  one  and  the 
eloquence  of  the  other,  that  hundreds  of 
young  persons,  especially  of  the  higher 
classes,  who  were  formerly  accustomed  to 
go  to  the  theatre,  opera,  and  pantomime, 
gave  them  up  deliberately,  and  from  choice 
and  the  force  of  conviction  attended  the 
gospel  and  prayer-meetings.  Men  who 
can  draw  away  our  educated  children  by 
the  hundred  in  this  city  that  boasts  of  its 
education,  from  these  haunts  of  pleasure 
and  amusement,  to  hear  of  Christ  in. 
preaching  and  song,  and  embrace  Him  as 


28 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


their  Saviour,  and  cling  to  them  as  their 
friends,  have  that  spiritual  education 
which  ennobles  the  character,  implants 
delicate  feelings,  generous  sentiments,  ten- 
der emotions,  and  gracious  affections, 
which  the  young  very  quickly  discover 
and  reciprocate. 

But  we  have  no  doubt  that  a  very  great 
part  of  Mr.  Moody's  superiority  over  most 
ministers  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  arises 
from  his  superior  knowledge  and  grasp  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  principle 
for  gospel  work  is  the  recognition  of  the 
divine  unity  of  the  one  body  of  Christ ; 
and  accordingly  wherever  they  go  they 
say,  in  effect,  A  truce  to  all  sectarianism 
that  the  Lord  alone  may  be  e.xalted  :  let 
all  denominations  for'  the  time  being  be 
obliterated  and  forgotten,  and  let  us  bring 
our  united  Christian  effort  to  bear  upon 
the  one  great  work  of  saving  perishing 
souls.  It  is  a  charming  sight  to  look  back 
over  the  past  eight  weeks  and  think  of  men 
who,  it  appeared,  were  for  all  time  to  come 
in  religious  antagonism  because  of  their 
controversial  differences  on  the  Union 
question,  sitting  side  by  side  on  the  same 
platform  lovingly  co-operating  with  those 
American  brethren  and  with  one  another 
for  the  conversion  of  souls.  All  old  things 
seemed  to  have  passed  away,  and  all  things 
had  become  new,  and  all  rejoiced  together 
in  the  blessing  which  has  been  so  richly 
vouchsafed  by  the  God  of  all  grace. 

There  has  been  such  a  commingling  of 
ministers  and  Christians  of  all  the 
churches — all  sectarian  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings being  buried — as  has  never  been  wit- 
nessed in  this  city  since  the  first  breaking 
up  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  more  than 
140  years  ago.  What  all  the  ministers  and 
people  of  Scotland  were  unable  to  achieve 
— a  union  of  Christians  on  a  doctrinal 
basis — God  has  effected,  as  it  were,  at  once 
on  the  basis  of  the  inner  life  by  the  sing- 
ing of  a  few  simple  hymns  and  the  simple 
preaching  of  the  gospel : — for  as  the  unity 
of  the  nation  was  secured  by  the  one  pur- 
pose to  make  David  king  over  all  Israel : 
"  All  these  men  of  war  that  could  keep 
rank  came  with  a  perfect  heart  to  Hebron, 
to  make  David  king  over  all  Israel ;  and 
all  the  rest  also  of  Israel  were  of  one  heart 
to  make  David  king,  and  there  was  great 
joy  in  Israel  "  (i  Chron.  xii.  38) ;  so  the  one 
purpose  to  have  the  Lord  Jesus  exalted 
and  made  supreme,  and  His  glory  in  the 
triumph  of  His  gospel  and  the  salvation  of 


sinners  made  manifest,  has  united  the  min- 
isters and  Christian  people  of  every  name 
in  the  metropolis  of  Scotland  :  "  and  there 
was  great  joy  in  that  city  "  (Acts  viii.  8). 
"  Be  it  known  unto  you  all,  that  by  the 
name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  yc  cru- 
cified, whom  God  raised  from  the  dead, 
even  by  Him  "  hath  been  "  shed  forth  this 
which  ye  now  see  and  hear."  "  This  was 
the  stone  which  was  set  at  nought  of  you 
builders,  which  is  become  the  Head  of  the 
Corner.  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any 
other,  for  there  is  none  other  name  under 
heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must 
be  saved  "  (Acts  iv.  10-12).  "  This  is  the 
Lord's  doing;  it  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes. 
This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath 
MADE.  We  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  it " 
(Ps.  viii.  23,  24). 

Mr.  Moody  is  overpoweringly  in  earnest, 
and  he  brings  in  the  direct,  straightfor- 
ward, decided  methods  of  a  thorough-going, 
energetic  man  of  business  into  his  ad- 
dresses, in  conducting  meetings,  and  his 
dealing  with  souls,  and,  as  a  preacher  gen- 
erally stamps  his  own  image  upon  his  con- 
verts, we  may  hope  to  see  a  brood  of  de- 
cided Christian  witnesses  and  testifiers 
arising  out  of  this  time  of  awakening,  that 
will  let  it  be  known  that  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  the  uppermost  purpose  in 
their  hearts. 

This  witness-bearing  has  already  begun  in 
colleges  and  schools,  in  families  and  work- 
rooms, in  drawing  rooms  and  kitchens. 
There  are  discussions  going  on  everywhere 
regarding  both  the  men  and  the  move- 
ment. In  ladies'  schools  there  are  young 
converts  testifying  for  Jesus,  and  boldly 
confessing  Him  as  their  Saviour ;  evening 
parties,  through  the  influence  of  the  young 
believers  in  the  household,  are  being  con- 
verted into  Christian  assemblies  to  talk 
over  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Moody,  and  to 
sing  in  concerted  worship  the  hymns  and 
solos  which  have  been  introduced  by  the 
inimitable  singing  of  Mr.  Sankey. 

These  two  quiet  and  humble  Americans 
have  all  but  turned  society  in  Edinburgh 
upside  down,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
have  given  its  citizens  the  merriest  Christ- 
mas and  the  happiest  New  Year  that  they  , 
have  ever  enjoyed,  by  gathering  them 
around  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  seems  as  if  a 
voice  from  heaven  had  been  heard  saying, 
"  O  clap  your  hands,  all  ye  people  :  shout 
unto  God  with  the  voice  of  triumph.  God 
is'  gone  up  with  a  shout,  the  Lord  with 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet.     Sing  praises  to 


EDINB  URGII. 


29 


God,  sing  praises ;  sing  praises  to  our  King, 
sing  praises;  sing  ye  praises  with  under- 
standing "  (Ps.  xlvii.  5-7).  W.  R. 


XXII. 

WHAT  GOOD  HAVE  MESSRS. 

MOODY   AND    SANKEY    DONE    IN 

EDINBURGH  ? 

This  is  a  question  which,  in  its  inward 
aspect,  can  be  answered  only  by  Him  who 
knows  the  hearts  of  men ;  but  that  which 
is  visible  and  apparent  can  be  set  down  in 
writing. 

For  one  thing,  Mr.  Moody  has  given 
the  Bible  its  due  place  of  prominence,  and 
has  made  it  to  be  looked  upon  as  the 
most  interesting  book  in  the  world.  This 
is  honoring  the  Holy  Ghost  more  than  all 
the  prayers  for  His  outpouring  that  have 
been  offered;  for  it  is  getting  into  the 
mind  of  God  as  the  Psalmist  got,  when  he 
said,  "  Thou  hast  magnified  Thy  word 
above  all  Thy  name."  His  addresses  on 
such  themes  as  "  How  to  study  the  Holy 
Scriptures,"  and  "  The  Scriptures  cannot 
be  broken  ;"  his  own  Bible  lectures,  which 
were  so  full  of  Scripture,  and  helpful  to 
hundreds  of  Christians ;  his  constant  ref- 
erence to  the  Bible,  and  quotation  from 
it  in  his  preaching;  his  moving  about 
amongst  the  anxious  with  the  open  Bible 
in  his  hands,  that  he  might  get  them  to 
rest  their  souls  on  the  "  true  sayings  of 
God ;"  and  his  earnest  exhortations  to 
young  Christians  to  read  the  Word,  and 
to  older  and  well-taught  Christians  to  get 
up  "  Bible  readings,"  and  invite  young 
Christians  to  come  to  them,  that  they 
might  be  made  acquainted  with  the  mind 
of  Christ,  all  showed  how  much  in  earnest 
he  is  to  give  due  prominence  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

Mr.  Moody  has  also  given  us  a  thorough 
specimen  of  good  gospel  preaching,  both 
as  to  matter  and  manner  of  communica- 
tion. It  is  not  a  mixture  of  law  and  gos- 
pel :  his  gospel  is  "  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God,"  "  without  the  works  of  the  law," 
"  the  gospel  of  God"  coming  ic  righteous- 
ly and  saving  the  lost,  not  by  a  mere  ju- 
dicial manipulation  and  theoretically,  but 
by  grace,  power,  and  life  coming  in  when 
men  were  dead,  so  that  we  have  not  only 
sins  blotted  out  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
but  deliverance  from  sin  in  the  nature  by 
death  and  resurrection,  and  life  beyond 


death,  so  that  a  risen  Christ  is  before  us, 
and  we  in  Him,  when  it  is  said,  **  There  is, 
therefore,  now  no  condemnation  to  them 
which  are  in  Christ  Jesus."  There  is 
''justification  of  life''  in  his  preaching, 
immediately  that  we  are  "  justified  by  His 
blood." 

He  has  also  distinguished  with  much 
decision  and  precision  between  the  Adam- 
nature  and  the  new  creation  in  Christ,  and 
made  it  as  clear  as  noon-day  that  salvation 
is  not  the  mere  setting  right  of  man's 
existing  faculties,  but  the  impartation  of 
new  life  in  Christ,  a  new  nature,  a  new 
creation,  so  that  there  exists  two  utterly 
opposed  natures  in  the  one  responsibk 
Christian  man,  and  that  "  these  are  con- 
trary the.  one  to  the  other:"  and  the 
knowledge  of  this  gives  young  Christians 
immense  relief,  and  a  solid  foundation  for 
holiness  at  the  very  commencement  of 
their  Christian  course.  New  creation  in 
Christ — not  the  mending  of  the  old  crea- 
tion— is  Mr.  Moody's  idea  of  Christianity  : 
and  it  is  the  divine  reality  which  many  are 
now  enjoying. 

This  also  leads  to  the  Pauline  theory  of 
holiness,  as  preached  by  him.  He  has 
imbibed  very  fully  the  theology  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  on  this  point,  and 
insisted  with  much  earnestness  that  Scrip- 
ture has  it  that  Christians  are  not  under 
the  law  in  any  shape  or  form,  and  that 
this  is  essential  to  holiness ; — "  For  sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  you ;  for  ye 
are  not  under  law,  but  under  grace " 
(Rom.  vi.  14)  ;  "  But  now  we  are  delivered 
from  the  law,  that  we  should  serve  in 
newness  of  spirit  "  (Rom.  vii.)  His  doc- 
trine is  that  the  law  never  made  a  bad 
man  good  or  a  good  man  better,  and  that 
we  are  under  grace  for  sanctification  as 
well  as  for  justification  ;  and  yet  the  right- 
eousness of  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  us  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh  (that  is,  under  law) 
"  but  after  the  Spirit  "  (Rom.  viii.  4.)  His 
clearness  in  distinguishing  between  law 
and  grace  has  been  the  lever  of  life  to 
many  souls. 

Our  American  brethren  have  also  been 
of  great  use  in  showing  us  what  may  be 
accomplished  in  the  conversion  of  souls, 
if  the  heart  is^only  fully  set  upon  it,  and 
there  is  a  determination  to  have  it.  They 
came  to  us  with  that  distinct  aim  and  ob- 
ject in  view ;  and  the  Lord  gave  them  the 
desires  of  their  hearts ;  and,  as  the  result 
hundreds  of  souls  have  professed  salva- 
tion.    They  gave  themselves  to  "  this  one 


30 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


thing,"  and  they  stuck  to  it,  brushing 
aside  all  other  things :  even  the  conven- 
tional courtesies  of  life  were  made  short 
work  of  by  Mr.  Moody  if  he  spied  an 
anxious  soul  likely  to  escape.  His  friends 
might  introduce  some  notable  stranger  at 
the  close  of  a  meeting,  and  feel  rather  an- 
noyed that,  instead  of  conversing  with 
him  or  her,  he  darted  off  in  a  moment  to 
awakened  souls ;  but  he  made  that  his 
work,  and  everything  else  had  to  be  sub- 
ordinate to  it.  "  This  one  thing  I  do," 
seems  to  be  his  life-motto ;  and  in  stick- 
ing to  this  all-absorbing  object,  he  has 
read  us  a  noble  lesson  of  holy  resoluteness 
and  decision.  If  we  who  are  ministers 
have  similar  faith  and  expectancy,  and 
work  like  our  American  friends  for  the 
conversion  of  souls,  the  conversion  of 
souls  we  shall  have.  Our  Lord  said  to 
those  who  were  to  be  the  first  preachers 
of  His  gospel,  "  I  have  chosen  you,  and 
ordained  you,  that  ye  should  go  and  bring , 
forth  fruit,  and  that  your  fruit  should  re- 
main "  (John  XV.  i6) ;  and  when  they 
were  endued  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
with  power,  they  did  "  bring  forth  fruit  " 
in  the  conversion  of  souls  (Acts  ii.  41  ;  iv. 
4) ;  and  their  fruit  remained  (Acts  ii.  42), 
and  has  done  so,  in  the  millions  of  souls 
saved  in  all  ages  down  to  the  present  day. 

Our  friends  have  been  the  means  of 
rescuing  hundreds  of  souls  in  this  city 
from  impending  and  everlasting  damna- 
tion. Their  labors  have  been  especially 
fruitful  in  the  conversion  of  young  women 
and  girls,  Avho  in  course  of  time  will  be  in 
the  important  position  of  wives  and  mo- 
thers ;  and  if  the  thousand  of  them  that 
appeared  at  the  young  converts'  meeting, 
to  receive  Mr.  Moody's  farewell  address, 
should  all  hold  out,  it  will  be  an  unspeak- 
able blessing  that  has  been  conferred  by 
God  on  this  community  through  their  in- 
strumentality. 

Persons  at  a  distance  have  wondered  at 
us  having  so  many  ladies  among  the  anx- 
ious, and  the  question  has  repeatedly 
come  to  us,  "  Where  are  the  men  }  Your 
anxious  inquirers  are  nearly  all  women, 
as  we  read  of  them  in  your  reports." 
If  such  persons  had  been  present  on  Fri- 
day, Jan.  16,  and  run  their^eyes  over  the 
young  converts  in  the  Free  Assembly 
Hall,  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  and 
counted,  as  was  done,  the  1,150  that  were 
present,  and  failed  to  find  150  of  them 
men,  they  would  no  longer  have  been  at 
a  loss  to  see  why  the  greater  proportion 


of    the    cases  of    awakening    mentioned 
are  women. 

But  we  believe  also  that  any  one  who 
would  affirm,  from  the  excessive  prepon- 
derance of  women  over  men  on  Friday  at 
the  young  converts'  meeting,  that  the  move- 
ment had  only  laid  hold  of  women,  would 
be  very  wide  of  the  truth ;  for  although 
the  meetings  went  on  for  three  weeks  al- 
most without  men,  towards  the  close  there 
were  many  young  men  who  were  brought 
under  the  power  of  the  truth.  It  is,  how- 
ever, well  known  that  most  young  Scots- 
men, from  a  variety  of  influences  and  mo- 
tives, even  though  converted,  would  rather 
be  excluded  from  the  meeting  than  face 
the  ordeal  through  which  those  had  to 
pass  who  received  tickets ;  and  had  there 
been  a  converts'  meeting  for  men  to  come 
to  without  any  examination  or  receiving  of 
tickets,  hundreds  would  have  attended  it. 

In  a  time  of  awakening  it  is  also  well 
known  that  women  who  are  religiously 
impressed  will  go  through  fire  and  water 
to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  those  who 
have  been  made  useful  to  their  souls. 
They  will  do  anything  they  are  asked  to 
do  ;  hence  the  mass-meeting  of  women  on 
Friday,  the  i6th.  But  not  so  with  men — 
especially  Scotsmen — hence  their  absence, 
notwithstanding  that  many  are  known  to 
have  been  converted. 

Before  that  meeting  was  held,  we  had 
given  it  as  our  calculation,  based  on  the 
facts  that  had  come  under  our  own  observa- 
tion daily  in  the  inquiry-meeting,  that 
there  might  be  1,500  souls  converted,  or 
who  had  professed  to  be  converted,  be- 
lieving themselves  to  be  so.  We  are  still 
of  the  same  judgment,  and  that  very  many 
more  of  them  are  men  than  that  converts' 
farewell  meeting  revealed.  Twelve  hun- 
dred women  and  three  hundred  men  and 
boys  seem  to  be  the  proportion  and  sum 
total  who  have  professed  conversion. 
Hundreds  of  them  may  go  on  flourish- 
ingly, and  bring  forth  thirty,  sixty,  and  a 
hundred  fold.  Hundreds  may  go  back, 
die  out,  or  be  choked  with  the  world,  and 
many  who  have  divine  life  in  their  souls 
may  collapse,  and  the  work  may  have  to 
be  done  over  again,  and  they  revived  and 
set  at  liberty,  because  of  the  lack  of 
teaching.  This  has  been  our  observation 
of  the  results  of  past  revivals,  having  been 
in  nearly  all  that  have  taken  place  in  this 
country  for  the  last  six-and-twenty  years. 
But  we  see  no  necessity  for  this  sad  out- 
come of  a  blessed  work  of  grace,  if  the 


EDINBURGH. 


31 


professed  converts  were  fully  taught  in  all 
the  precious  truth  of  God  with  regard  to 
their  place  in  a  risen  and  glorified  Christ, 
as  Romans,  Ephesians,  and  Colossians, 
spiritually  and  competently  expounded, 
would  teach  them.  Good  milk,  and 
plenty  of  it,  makes  an  infant  thrive  and 
grow.  "  As  new-born  babes,  desire  the 
sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may 
grow  thereby.  Grow  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ."  The  only  way  not  to  fall  is  to 
grow,  and  growth  and  strength  are  by  the 
truth. 

One  night  it  was  publicly  reported  (and 
we  were  confined  to  the  house  at  that  time 
with  a  heavy  cold,  and  could  not  be  out 
to  verify  it  for  ourselves)  that  600  men 
had  come  up  from  the  Corn  Exchange, 
and  fallen  on  their  knees  on  the  floor  of 
the  Assembly  Hall,  professing  themselves 
willing  to  give  themselves  to  Christ.  What 
a  pity  that  Christians  should  exaggerate 
like  that,  and  give  the  enemy  cause  to  ask 
incredulously.  Where  were  your  600  Corn 
Exchange  converts  when  the  converts' 
farewell  meeting  was  held  1  Have  they 
gone  back  from  Christ  already  } 

A  similar  band  of  men,  400  strong,  came 
up  from  the  Corn  Exchange  on  the  subse- 
quent Sunday  evening,  and  filled  the  body 
of  the  Assembly  Hall ;  and  to  an  outsider 
and  onlooker  they  would  have   appeared 


to  be  400  anxious  inquirers;  but  on  being 
tested  at  the  close  (as  was  done),  they 
were  found  to  be  mostly  Christian  men — 
many  of  them  helpers  in  the  work ;  and  it 
turned  out  that  there  was  not  a  score  of 
anxious  souls  amongst  them.  There  had 
been  hundreds  of  men  more  or  less  im- 
pressed that  night  in  the  Corn  Exchange ; 
but  it  was  preposterous  to  suppose  that 
West  Port,  Grassmarket,  and  Cowgate  men 
could  be  got  to  any  extent,  to  make  a  long 
and  difficult  pilgrimage,  up  infinite  steps 
of  stairs,  to  some  terra  incognita  in  the 
regions  beyond,  in  order  to  be  conversed 
with  about  their  souls  ! 

There  is  nothing  more  disliked  by  Mr. 
Moody  than  exaggerated  representations 
as  to  the  numbers  at  his  meetings,  and  as 
nothing  is  more  hurtful  to  the  solid  pro- 
gress of  the  work  than  romancing  about 
numbers,  it  should  be  carefully  avoided. 
There  is  nothing  we  have  paid  more  at- 
tention to  than  strict  and  sober  accuracy 
in  all  our  reports,  and  we  have  thereby 
sought  to  secure  and  retain  the  confidence 
of  our  readers. 

How  we  should  praise  God  that  there 
are  hundreds  who  have  been  made  Chris- 
tians in  our  city,  and  that  thousands  of 
lips  are  filled  with  the  melody  of  joy  and 
praise,  as  the  result  of  the  visit  of  our 
beloved  brethren,  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey ! 


THE  Vv^ORK   IN    DUNDEE. 


I. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  began  their 
work  at  Dundee  on  Wednesday,  the  21st 
of  January,  1874.  A  united  prayer-meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  Steeple  Church,  Over 
2,000  tickets  were  issued  for  the  meeting, 
and  long  before  the  hour  announced  for 
the  commencement  of  the  proceedings  the 
church  was  crowded. 

On  the  following  day  a  united  prayer- 
meeting  was  held  at  noon  in  Free  St.  An- 
drew's Church,  Mr.  Moody  presiding. 
This  was  continued  from  day  to  day. 
Children's  meetings  were  also  held  on  Sat- 
urday, and  Sunday  meetings  followed  in 
various  parts  of  the  town.  The  work  was 
terminated  with  an  "  All-day  meeting  "  on 


the  6th  of  February.  At  the  close  Mr. 
Moody  addressed  a  young  converts'  meet- 
ing in  the  evening,  when  about  four  hun- 
dred were  present,  professing  to  have  been 
saved  through  the  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  during  their  visit  at  Dundee. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Sharp  writes  as  follows  of 
the  movement; 

II. 

MESSRS.  MOODY  AND  SANKEY  IN 
DUNDEE. 

I  AM  glad  to  say  the  amount  of  blessing 
that  has  fallen  upon  Edinburgh  seems  to 
be  imported  to  Dundee.  From  the  very 
first  all  the  meetings  have  been  very  largely 


32 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


attended,  and  the  whole  town  seems  to  be 
moved.  It  would  take  up  too  much  of 
your  space  to  give  even  an  outline  of  the 
glorious  results  arising  out  of  the  visit  to 
this  town  of  these  two  honored  servants  of 
God.  Hundreds  of  anxious  souls  wait 
every  night  to  be  spoken  with,  as  well  as 
many  at  tlie  close  of  the  mid-day  meetings. 
Day  after  day  the  interest  has  been  increas- 
ing. He  would  be  a  bold  man,  or  even 
minister,  who  would  dare  to  dispute  the 
good  that  many  have  received  to  their  own 
souls.  We  have  had  personal  experience, 
day  after  day  and  night  after  night,  of  hear- 
ing from  the  lips  of  persons  themselves 
who  have  professed  to  have  found  peace  to 
their  own  souls  in  believing  in  Jesus  as 
their  Saviour  since  these  meetings  began. 
I  do  not  believe  the  people  of  Dundee  ever 
witnessed  such  a  sight  as  was  seen  here 
last  Sunday. 

Mr.  JNIoody  gave  an  address  to  workers 
in  the  Kinnaird  Hall  in  the  morning.  The 
admission  was  by  ticket ;  the  place  was 
filled.  He  also  preached  in  other  places 
through  the  day.  But  what  I  refer  to 
principally  is  the  evening  services — a  meet- 
ing at  half-past  five,  and  again  at  half-past 
seven,were  held  in  the  Kinnaird  Hall,which 
holds  about  2,000.  No  one  can  form  the 
least  idea  of  the  scene  in  Bank  street, 
where  the  hall  is  situated,  even  after  the 
hall  was  filled;  the  street  seemed  filled 
from  end  to  end  with  the  crowd,  eager  to 
gain  access,  but  could  not  for  want  of  room. 
Many  were  awakened  by  the  impressive 
addresses  of  Mr.  Moody,  as  well  as  the 
beautiful  hymns  sung  by  Mr.  Sankey.  His 
melodious  voice,  giving  such  charm  to  the 
soul-stirring  words,  seemed  to  produce  a 
most  powerful  effect  upon  the  large  audi- 
ence, and  hundreds  remained  at  the  close 
to  be  spoken  with,  and  many  gave  evidence 
of  having  received  much  blessing. 

I  have  no  time  to  enter  into  the  full  par- 
ticulars, but  allow  me  first  to  say,  the 
whole  of  the  meetings  are  largely  attended 
both  by  males  and  females,  both  by  young 
and  old,  and  what  seems  to  be  so  pleasing, 
a  most  harmonious  feeling  appearing  to 
pervade  the  whole  town  amongst  all  classes 
and  all  denominations — ministers  and  peo- 
ple all  seem  to  rejoice  together.  I  am  glad 
to  say,  many  who  have  hitherto  been  living 
without  God  have  been  brought  to  peace 
in  believing  in  Jesus. 

Mr.  Moody's  address  at  the  Bible  meet- 
ing yesterday  seemed  to  make  a  deep  im- 
pression on  all  present.     His  subject  had 


reference  principally  to  searching  and 
studying  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  good 
to  be  derived  to  our  own  souls  by  so  doing. 
The  large  audience  that  had  assembled  in 
Dr.  Wilson's  church, — which  was  crammed, 
and  many  could  not  get  in  at  three  in  the 
afternoon, — appeared  to  be  loath  to  leave, 
and  looked  as  if  they  could  have  listened 
another  hour  to  such  profitable  instruction, 
and  such  glorious  truths  that  fell  from  the 
lips  of  the  speaker.  Even  the  very  young- 
est in  the  meeting  seemed  to  listen  with 
most  intense  interest. 

God  seems  to  be  working  powerfully  in 
Dundee  through  the  instrumentality  of 
these  two  God-honored  servants  of  His. 
What  to  myself  is  very  encouraging  is  the 
want  of  that  opposition  which  is  so  com- 
mon, and  which  is  so  often  raised  by  the 
wicked  one. 

No  one  can  fail  to  see  the  happy  and 
cordial  feeling  all  over  the  town ;  every- 
body seems  to  be  pleased  with  one  another, 
and  however  much  some  people  may  object 
to  such  gatherings,  no  one  who  has  the 
least  spark  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness 
flowing  in  his  veins  could  fail  to  be  pleased 
as  v/ell  as  delighted  to  see  the  happy, 
cheerful,  and  friendly  smile  to  be  seen  in 
the  faces  of  each  and  all  as  they  greet  one 
another  in  the  street ;  and  to  myself,  it 
seems  a  little  heaven  below  to  see  how 
happy  every  one  looks  as  they  leave  the 
meetings,  and  more  especially  is  it  to  be 
admired  and  soul-cheering  to  see  how  the 
young  children,  along  with  their  parents, 
seem  to  enjoy  the  meetings  ;  and,  glory  be 
to  God,  many  a  parent's  heart  has  been 
made  to  sing  for  joy  to  see  so  many  of  their 
children  giving  their  young  hearts  to  Jesus. 
And  oh,  what  a  glorious  sight  to  see  and 
to  hear  parents  and  children  now  singing 
together  with  one  heart  and  one  voice,  "  I 
am  so  glad  Jesus  loves  me,"  and  I  pray 
God  they  may  be  enabled  to  hold  on  and 
hold  out  to  the  end.  Yes,  to  hold  the  fort 
and  wave  the  answer  back  to  heaven,  "By 
Thy  grace  we  will." 

Having  attended  many  of  these  meetings 
in  Edinburgh  for  weeks  together,  as  well 
as  many  of  the  meetings  here  in  Dundee, 
and  from  all  I  have  seen  and  got  to  know 
from  personal  experience,  I  am  satisfied 
God  has  been  working  mightily  with  them 
here,  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
has  been  felt  in  the  conversion  of  many 
souls.     I  am,  sir,  yours,  etc., 

Alex.  Sharp. 
Dundee,  Feb.  4,  1874. 


THE  WORK   IN    GLASGOW. 


On  Sunday,  Feb.  8,  1874,  the  Evangel- 
ists begun  their  work  at  Glasgow.  The 
following  letters  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  An- 
drew A.  Bonar,  slightly  abridged,  vividly 
present  the  development  and  progress  of 
the  v/ork  there. 


MESSRS.    MOODY  AND   SANKEY'S 
MEETINGS    IN    GLASGOW. 

FIRST  LETTER. 

Dear  Brethren, — You  wish  to  know 
something  of  the  work  of  God  in  this  city. 
The  rumor  of  what  God  was  working  else- 
where, especially  as  the  cloud  of  blessing 
seemed  to  come  nearer  us,  had  prepared 
the  way  for  our  American  brethren's  visit ; 
indeed,  there  were  cases  here  and  there 
where  persons  were  awakened  to  conver- 
sion by  the  single  rumor  of  others  being 
so  blessed.  Let  me  give  you  notes  of  what 
has  been  passing  here  during  these  few 
days,  with  all  the  freedom  of  one  writing 
a  letter  to  a  friend. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  began  their 
labors  in  Glasgow  on  Sabbath  morning, 
the  8th.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  City  Hall, 
a  delightful  and  most  stirring  meeting  of 
Sabbath-school  teachers,  numbering  about 
three  thousand,  was  held.  Mr.  Moody 
took  this  way  of  engaging  the  prayer  and 
sympathy  of  3,000  workers  for  Christ  in 
the  beginning  of  his  labors.  Some  of  the 
ministers  in  this  city  were  in  a  certain  way 
witnesses  of  the  effect  produced,  teacher 
after  teacher  coming  into  church  just 
as  the  bells  ceased,  with  happy,  thought- 
ful, solemn  faces.  The  evening's  teach- 
ing could  not  fail  to  feel  the  influence  of 
that  morning.  Half-past  six  was  the  hour 
for  the  evening  evangelistic  services,  but 
more  than  an  hour  before  the  time  the 
City  Hall  was  crowded  in  every  corner, 
and  the  immense  multitude  outside  were 
drafted  off  to  the  three  nearest  churches, 
which  were  soon  filled.  Mr.  Moody's 
subject  was  "  The  Gospel  "  (referring  to  i 
Cor.  XV.  1-4),  illustrated  and  enforced  in 
his  usual  style,  downright,  earnest,  and 
powerful.     Mr.  Sankey 's  singing  at  both 


meetings  began  at  once  to  be  felt  as  in- 
deed "  the  gospel  "  preached  by  singing, 
impressive  and  melting,  as  well  as  most 
attractive.  Is  it  another  of  the  Lord's 
many  new  ways,  in  these  last  days,  of 
graciously  compelling  men  to  come  in, 
like  the  Grecian  mother's  intense  agony 
of  desire  expressing  itself  in  the  song  that 
lured  her  wayward  child  back  from  the 
precipice  to  safety  ? 

The  daily  prayer-meeting  at  twelve 
o'clock  was  begun  on  the  Monday  follow- 
ing— held  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  Wellington  Street,  which  accom- 
modates 1,500  persons.  Mr.  Moody,  after 
the  many  requests  for  prayer  had  been 
taken  up,  started  with  the  passage  in  2 
Chron.  xx.,  which  records  Jehoshaphat's 
prayer,  especially  dwelling  on  verse  12  : 
"  Our  eyes  are  upon  Thee,  for  we  know 
not  what  to  do."  The  church  was  full. 
Mr.  Sankey 's  singing  is  aided  by  a  volun- 
tary choir  of  male  and  female  voices, 
every  one  of  the  number  throwing  their 
heart  into  this  work  as  a  means  of  winning 
souls;  and  altogether  there  is  a  liveliness 
and  interest,  as  well  as  a  solemnity,  in  the 
crowded  meeting  such  as  has  seldom  been 
witnessed.  Christians  and  Christian  min- 
isters of  all  denominations,  from  the  coun- 
try as  well  as  town,  come  to  this  meeting ; 
it  is  a  meeting  that  sends  us  back  to  Apos- 
tolic days,  Avhen  the  multitude  were  of  one 
heart  and  of  one  soul  "  (Acts  iv.  32),  pray- 
ing "  with  one  accord "  for  the  setting 
forth  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
city.  "  It  is  not  preaching  that  Scotland 
needs,"  said  one  brother,  "  it  is  prayer 
and  power."  Our  brethren  reckon  this 
hour  of  prayer  to  be  the  most  important 
of  all  the  meetings,  since  it  is  here  that 
believers  are  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  to 
overflowing,  and  then  go  forth  to  the  un- 
saved. 

As  I  do  not  promise  to  write  to  you 
chronologically,  let  me  give  one  sample  of 
our  meetings.  On  Wednesday  the  chair* 
man  read  Luke  v.  17-31,  with  many  racy 
remarks  and  pointed  appeals;  and  when 
the  meeting  was  thrown  open,  five  or  six 
persons  in  turn  spoke  briefly.  A  minister 
told  the  anecdote  of  a  Highland'  chieftain, 


34 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


who  used  to  say  that  it  was  not  right  to 
ask  "  blessing  "  merely  ;  God  wished  us  to 
ask  *'  showers  of  blessing  "  (Ezek.  xxxiv. 
26).  A  friend  from  Edinburgh  stated 
that  there  was  no  symptom  of  decline — 
every  day  the  prayer-meeting  in  the  As- 
sembly Hall  thronged,  and  every  evening 
some  cases  of  blessing  at  the  evangelistic 
meetings.  He  told  also  of  drops  falling 
in  a  district  in  Dumfriesshire.  One  of  the 
ministers  of  the  city  drew  attention  to  our 
Lord's  conversations  with  souls,  urging  on 
all  this  means  of  laboring  for  the  Lord, 
and  stating  his  conviction,  from  what  he 
had  come  in  contact  with,  that  hundreds 
of  souls  were  ready  to  speak  their  mind  to 
any  who  would  approach  them.  Prayer 
was  offered,  and  part  of  the  hymn,  "  Jesus 
the  water  of  life  Avill  give  freely,  freely, 
freely,"  was  sung.  A  minister  from  Edin- 
burgh confirmed  by  some  further  facts 
what  had  been  stated  in  regard  to  the 
blessing  there. 

An  elder  pressed  the  privilege  of  taking 
part  in  the  making  known  salvation  to 
those  around  us.  A  minister  from  the 
country  gave  interesting  details  of  awak- 
ening begun  in  his  congregation  and 
neighborhood  since  the  Week  of  Prayer, 
and  spoke  of  the  holy  solemnity  resting  on 
all  who  came  together,  night  after  night, 
for  prayer,  so  that  the  very  walls  of  the 
place  seemed  consecrated.  But  let  me 
tell  of  the  Evening  Meetings  this  week. 
The  three  first  evenings  Mr.  Moody  and 
Mr.  Sankey  were  in  the  north-east  part  of 
the  city,  in  the  Barony  (Established) 
Church  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then 
in  the  Free  Barony  Church.  Both  places 
have  been  filled  to  the  door,  night  after 
night,  and  many  inquirers  have  remained 
at  the  close.  Mr.  Moody's  address  on 
"  There  is  no  difference,"  and  on  "  The 
Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  save  that 
which  was  lost,"  were  both  awful  and 
most  melting,  and  full  of  saving  truth. 
The  singing  of  "  There  is  life  for  a  look  at 
the  Crucified  One,"  evidently  moved  many. 
In  all  the  meetings  it  is  quite  common  to 
see  tears  trickling  down  the  faces  of  men 
when  "Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by"  is 
sung.  A  young  woman  was  awakened  on 
Sabbath  morning  by  the  hymn  sung  by 
Mr.  Sankey,  "  I  am  so  glad  that  Jesus 
loves  me." 

Perhaps  I  should  mention  here  that  one 
of  your  London  ministers  was  present  on 
Thursday,  and  candidly  said  to  the  meet- 
ing that  he  had  come  the  day  before  full 


of  prejudice  against  these  gatherings;  but 
that  all  his  prejudice  was  gone.  He  urged 
upon  all  present  (referring  to  Mr.  Moody's 
subject  that  morning,  2  Kings,  iv.  1-6)  to 
come,  bringing  not  only  empty  vessels,  but 
vessels  large  and  deep. 

Thursday  evening's  meeting  was  in  the 
City  Hall,  and  consisted  wholly  of  men, 
invited  by  ticket.  The  very  look  of  the 
meeting  was  solemnizing,  such  a  sea  of 
faces,  every  face  looking  at  the  speaker 
with  fixed  and  intense  earnestness.  "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again  "  was  the  sub- 
ject; there  had  been  much  prayer  offered 
in  prospect  of  this  gathering  of  men,  and 
it  was  answered.  Mr.  Moody  was  enabled 
to  speak  in  marvelous  power,  and  the 
Spirit  assuredly  was  working,  so  that  from 
time  to  time  the  whole  mass  of  souls 
seemed  moved,  and  bent  down  under  the 
truth.  The  hymns  sung,  too,  appeared  to 
have  a  wonderful  power  on  that  audience 
of  men.  When  at  the  close  those  were 
invited  to  remain  longer  who  were  on  the 
Lord's  side  or  wished  to  be,  above  a 
thousand  kept  their  places ;  and  when, 
after  four  brief  prayers  had  been  offered 
in  succession,  they  were  let  go,  a  large 
number  of  anxious  souls  remained.  Many 
of  these  last  were  very  deeply  concerned. 
In  short,  it  was  one  of  those  meetings  that 
can  never  be  forgotten.  "  The  power  of 
the  Lord  was  present  to  heal." 

Surely  the  Lord  is  gathering  in  His 
elect  in  haste  before  the  great  and  notable 
day  of  the  Lord.  And  as  in  the  days  of 
the  Forerunner,  He  made  men  willing  to 
go  out  in  thronging  multitudes  to  the  des- 
ert, seeking  out  the  preacher,  the  preach- 
er not  needing  to  seek  out  them  ;  so  it  is 
now.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  preached, 
and  every  man  presseth  into  it."  Appli- 
cations for  visits  of  our  two  brethren  come 
in  from  all  the  region  round  :  Greenock, 
Dumbarton,  Paisley,  Rothesay,  Hamilton, 
Millport,  Saltcoats,  Bothwell,  Barrhead, 
Rutherglen,  and  other  localities. 


SECOND   LETTER. 


Perhaps  we  in  Glasgow  are  at  that 
stage  of  the  movement  described  in  Acts 
ii.  42,  "  Having  power  with  all  the  people; 
and  the  Lord  added  to  the  Church  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved." 

At  the  daily  prayer-meeting  on  Friday, 
13th,  thanks  were  given  for  the  most  in- 
teresting meeting  of  4,000  men  in  the  City 


GLASGOW. 


35 

entrance.  It  was,  like  Thursday  even- 
ing, a  memorable  time.  Mr.  Moody's  sub- 
ject was  "Whosoever," — salvation  abso- 
lutely free,  all  gift ;  nothing  between  a  sin- 
ner and  eternal  life  but  his  unbroken  will. 
The  mass  of  men  listened  with  intense  in- 
terest ;  now  and  then  you  could  see  a  tear, 
or  the  head  bent  in  deep  emotion.  When 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  hymn,  "  I  am  Coming 
to  the  Cross,"  nothing  could  exceed  the 
rapt,  silent  attention.  When  he  came  to 
the  verse — 

"  In  the  promises  I  trust, 

Now  I  feel  the  blood  applied  : 
I  am  prostrate  in  the  dust  ; 
I  with  Christ  am  crucified," — 

not  a  head  in  the  vast  multitude  moved, 
every  face  expressed  deep  feeling.  This 
verse  was  repeated  amid  still  deeper  silence 
and  emotion.  At  the  close,  when  an 
invitation  was  given  to  those  who  minded 
to  remain  for  twenty  minutes  simply  for 
prayer,  above  a  thousand  remained,  and 
thereafter  a  large  number  waited  for  con- 
versation, though  the  hour  was  late. 

In  the  daily  prayer-meeting,  one  of  our 
brethren  undertakes  to  arrange  beforehand 
the  requests  for  prayer — a  most  important 
service,  for  they  mount  up  from  150^0  200 
every  day.  On  Monday,  the  i6th,  several 
brethren  stated  what  they  knew  or  had 
heard  of  the  progress  of  the  work  in  our 
city  and  elsewhere.  From  Dundee  it  was 
reported  that  real  Sabbath-school  work 
had  got  an  impulse  ;  and  one  school  was 
mentioned  where  a  great  awakening  seem- 
ed begun.  The  evening  of  this  day  had 
been  appointed  as  a  time  when  all  inqui- 
rers awakened  during  last  week  should 
meet  for  counsel  and  conversation  with 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey,  assisted  by 
Christian  workers,  in  the  hall  of  the  Free 
Barony  Church.  Above  two  hundred 
came,  and  of  these  a  hundred  were  men, 
all  willing,  as  far  as  they  could,  to  tell 
"what's  the  trouble?"  It  was  felt  by  all 
who  took  part  to  be  a  time  of  singular 
solemnity — reapers  gathering  up  sheaves 
for  the  Lord's  garner.  This  was,  indeed, 
an  encouraging  result  of  one  week's  prayer, 
preaching,  and  singing.  \ 

I  do  not  attempt  to  give  an  account  of 
every  meeting  from  day  to  day,  thougli 
there  has  been  no  day  without  its  incidents 
worth  preserving.  There  is  over  the  city 
a  breathing  of  the  quickening  Spirit 
Christian  workers  find  it  easy  to  approach 
men  on  the  matter  of  salvation. 


Hall  on  the  preceding  evening.  Mr. 
Moody's  helpful  word  that  day  was  in  re- 
gard to  the  three  classes  of  believers  we 
meet  with  everywhere — those  who  have  got 
to  the  length  of  John  iii.  15  ;  another  class, 
who  know  by  experience  John  iv.  14 — 
they  have  the  living  water  springing  up  in 
them  ;  and  a  third,  and  best,  who  answer 
to  the  description  in  John  vii.  2>^y  39 — 
true  believers,  and  pouring  out  on  others 
"rivers  of  living  water." 

The  evening  meetings  were  held  again 
in  the  two  Barony  Churches,  Established 
and  Free,  and  many  anxious  remained  be- 
hind to  converse. 

On  Saturday  the  meeting  (as  usual  on 
that  day)  was  specially  for  children — a 
lively  and  impressive  meeting.  The  church 
was  filled  with  young  people,  and  there 
have  been  decided  conversions  in  connec- 
tion with  these  gatherings  for  the  young. 
At  the  same  hour  the  usual  prayer-meet- 
ing was  carried  on  in  Ewing  Place  Chapel, 
close  by,  and  the  place  was  filled. 

On  Sabbath  morning  there  was  another 
gathering  of  Sabbath-school  teachers,  at 
nine  o'clock.  These  were  not  the  same 
company  as  last  week,  but  from  another 
part  of  the  city.  The  City  Hall  was  the 
place,  but  it  could  not  contain  all  who 
sought  admission.  The  address  by  Mr. 
Moody,  on  Matt.  xx.  1-15,  made  the 
privilege  of  working  for  the  Lord  appear 
so  honorable  and  so  pleasant — especially 
when  he  called  on  the  laborers  among  us 
to  leave  the  Householder  to  give  what- 
soever He  might  think  right,  and  not 
"  bargain  for  a  penny  a  day  " — that  many 
felt  truly  humbled,  and  all  were  fired  with 
new  desire  to  win  souls,  a  work  and  priv- 
ilege which  angels  almost  envy  us.  On 
coming  out,  it  was  interesting  to  notice 
that  a  row  of  outside  listeners  had  sta- 
tioned themselves  close  to  the  building, 
eager  to  catch  at  least  the  songs  of  praise. 

None  of  the  evangelistic  services  are 
held  at  the  usual  hours  of  church  service, 
but  much  prayer  went  up  for  these  meet- 
ings from  many  congregations  throughout 
the  day. 

At  five  o'clock  the  City  Hall  was  filled 
with  females  only  j  and  so  deep  was  the 
impression,  that  about  a  hundred  inquirers 
remained  to  be  conversed  with,  some  of 
whom  were  led  into  light  and  liberty. 

At  eight  o'clock  there  was  a  vast  assem- 
bly, of  ftien  only,  in  the  City  Hall.  They 
were  packed  into  every  corner;  and  out- 
side were  nearly  as  many  in  vain  seeking 


36 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Mr.  Moody  began  his  Bible-readings  in 
the  afternoon.  They  are  held  for  the  pres- 
ent in  the  Free  College  Church  (Dr. 
Buchanan's).  That  day  Dr.  Fairbairn, 
Principal  of  the  Free  College,  presided. 
Many  ministers  of  all  denominations  were 
present.  Mr.  Moody's  subject  was,  "  The 
Jjlood  of  Atonement,"  "  the  scarlet  line 
that  binds  together  every  leaf  of  the  Bible." 
The  audience  that  crowded  the  church 
was  of  a  more  educated  and  fashionable 
kind  than  some  in  the  evenings,  and  they 
heard  a  most  clear,  powerful,  decided 
statement  of  saving  truth,  illustrated  by 
many  touching  incidents;  and  well  worth 
remembering  was  the  preacher's  testimony 
that,  wherever  he  had  been,  in  any  part  of 
the  world,  he  had  found  that  those  minis- 
ters who  preached  the  blood  were  the  men 
who  were  winners  of  souls.  We  called  to 
mind,  as  he  said  this,  the  counsel  of  a 
much-blessed  Methodist  to  those  around 
him,  '*  Live  in  the  Sacrifice !  Live  in  the 
Sacrifice r  These  afternoon  Bible-read- 
ings are  thronged,  and  this  is  itself  an  im- 
portant fact ;  for  attention  to  the  Word  of 
God,  and  the  true  sense  of  it  (Mr.  Moody 
remarked  the  other  day  at  a  prayer-meet- 
ing), was  the  prominent  characteristic  of 
revival  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah  (see  chap, 
viii.  1-8,  and  ix.  3).  Indeed,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion how  far  any  revival  is  likely  to  yield 
much  permanent  fruit  where  a  real  hunger 
for  the  Word  does  not  characterize  it.  In 
Josh.  i.  8  and  Psa.  i.  2,  3,  constant  medita- 
tion on  the  Lord's  law  is  enjoined  a.s  the 
grand  secret  of  spiritual  freshness  and 
growth. 

That  same  evening  the  evangelistic 
meeting  was  held  (as  it  has  been  all  this 
week)  in  John  Street  United  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  crowds  increase  instead  of 
diminishing.  The  Wesleyan  Chapel,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  opened  to 
receive  the  overflow,  has  been  filled,  and 
no  night  passes  without  fresh  cases  of 
anxiety. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  Christian  young 
men  of  the  city  met  in  Ewing  Place  Chapel, 
to  consult  with  Mr.  Moody  as  to  what 
they  might  do  to  forward  the  Lord's  work. 
Mr.  Sankey  gave  tone  to  the  meeting, 
singing — 

"  Oh,  what  are  you  going  to  do,  brother  ? 
Say,  what  are  you  going  to  do? 
You  have  thought  of  some  useful  labor,"  etc. 

When  Mr.  Moody  had  made  some  sugges- 
tions and  got  many  of  those  present  to 


tell  their  own  views,  he  asked  if  as  many 
as  agreed  to  enter  on  such  a  plan  as  was 
suggested  would  rise  to  their  feet.  The 
whole  number  (there  must  have  been  700 
present)  at  once  rose  ;  and  already  these 
young  men  have  begun  to  meet  every 
night,  between  nine  and  ten,  to  stimulate 
each  other  to  watch  for  souls,  and  to  lay 
hold  on  other  young  men.  The  hour  is 
fixed  thus  late  in  order  that  there  may  be 
no  interference  with  other  meetings,  and 
in  order  to  give  opportunity  to  those  who 
are  kept  late  by  business.  What  a  field 
Glasgow  presents,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that  the  young  men  of  the  city 
between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five 
number  70,000. 

At  Wednesday's  prayer-meeting,  Neh. 
viii.  1-12  was  the  passage  read.  The 
passage  led  to  the  subject  of  "  joy,"  which 
not  only  the  president  but  the  successive 
speakers  took  up.  Then  was  read  a  let- 
ter containing  brotherly  salutations  from 
the  Edinburgh  Daily  Prayer-meeting  ;  and 
when  it  was  mentioned  that  at  that  very 
hour  they  would  be  praying  for  us,  the 
meeting  engaged  in  silent  prayer  for  their 
brethren  there. 

I  think  it  was  on  Thursday  that  thanks- 
giving was  requested  by  two  students 
brought  to  Christ  in  the  meeting  of  the 
preceding  evening.  Another  thanksgiving 
came  from  a  Sabbath-school  teacher,  for 
an  awakening  begun  in  her  class  in  answer 
to  prayer  offered  for  it  a  week  ago.  We 
heard  in  private  many  interesting  cases 
that  cannot  be  published,  but  which  will 
soon  be  felt.  One,  however,  I  may  men- 
tion. A  man  went  to  pay  a  debt  long  due ; 
surprise  was  expressed  at  his  coming  on 
that  errand,  but  he  explained  all  by  saying, 
"/  ivas  brought  to  Christ  last  week"  Is 
not  this  a  brother  of  Zaccheus  }  (Luke 
xix.  8.)  We  shall  see  speedily  much  more 
of  such  fruits  in  all  classes  of  society,  to 
the  glory  of  Him  who  gave  Himself  for  us 
"  that  He  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity, 
and  purify  unto  Himself  a  peculiar  people, 
zealous  of  good  works." 

There  is  blessed  work  going  on  in  other 
parts  of  Glasgow  and  in  the  neighborhood. 
Our  beloved  brethren  were  sent  by  the 
Master  to  fire  the  train  laid  in  many  places 
before  they  came.  Laborers,  who  only 
sowed  before,  are  now  reaping.  But  be- 
yond all  this,  in  connection  with  their 
preaching  and  singing,  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
quickening  souls  that  were  never  touched 
before.     It  is  a  day  of  the  Lord's  power. 


GLASGOW. 


37 


Worldly  men  are  "doubting  whereunto  this 
will  grow  "  (Acts  v.  24),  and  God's  people 
are  rejoicing  that  He  is  "  making  ready  a 
people  prepared  for  the  Lord." 


THIRD    LETTER. 


The  work  goes  on.  The  Lord  Jesus, 
sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  is  "  con- 
firming the  word  by  signs  following."  We 
hear  of  conversions  coming  under  the 
notice  of  workers  for  the  Lord  in  all  parts 
of  the  town.  Last  Friday  the  subject  of 
the  noon  prayer-meeting  was  Jas.  i.  8,  and 
in  the  Bible-reading  in  the  Free  College 
Church  (Dr.  Robert  Buchanan  presiding), 
the  topic  was  "  Heaven."  It  had  been 
"  Grace  "  the  day  preceding.  At  the  close 
of  the  evening  meetings  in  John  Street 
United  Presbyterian  Church  and  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  the  number 
of  inquirers  was  large ;  but  so  well  was  all 
arranged  for  conversing  with  them,  that 
though  there  must  have  been  above  a 
hundred  at  one  time,  yet  all  was  order  and 
stillness,  the  different  workers  in  separate 
seats,  and  some  in  separate  rooms,  dealing 
with  the  anxious.  No  idlers  were  permit- 
ted to  look  on,  and  there  was  time  for 
helping  individuals  to  get  at  a  clear  under- 
standing of  their  own  difficulties  and 
hindrances,  which  in  many  cases  is  the 
main  thing  needed,  in  order  to  their  right 
apprehension  of  the  gospel. 

We  pass  on  to  the  Sabbath  morning 
meeting  in  the  City  Hall.  It  was  one  of 
Christian  workers,  3,000  of  whom  filled  the 
place.  Mr.  Moody  spoke  on  Isaiah  vi.  8, 
"  Send  me."  At  five  o'clock  the  hall  was 
filled  Avith  females  only,  and  at  eight  with 
men  only.  As  other  neighboring  churches 
were  open  at  the  same  time  for  the  over- 
flow, at  least  10,000  persons  that  night 
heard  the  gospel  in  a  special  manner. 
From  half-past  six  onward  there  was  an 
important  gathering  from  all  the  meetings 
in  the  old  College  Church,  of  all  who  were 
anxious,  and  above  200  souls  were  there  in 
the  course  of  the  evening.  It  was  a  busy 
scene,  the  workers  dealing  with  individuals, 
or  occasionally  in  little  groups.  It  was  the 
business  of  heaven  that  was  carried  on. 
The  wares  of  God's  market  were  exhibited 
and  pressed  on  the  acceptance  of  sinners, 
without  money  and  without  price.  I  could 
not  help  going  back  to  the  memories  of 
other  days,  for  in  this  old  College  Church, 
in  Whitefield's  time,  there  ministered  one 
whose  whole  heart  was  in  revival  work. 


This  was  Dr.  John  Gillies,  who  not  only 
laboriously  compiled  the  "  Historical  Col- 
lections," one  relating  to  remarkable  peri- 
ods of  the  success  of  the  gospel  (a  book  of 
deep  interest  to  all  who  care  for  the  win- 
ning of  souls),  but  used  also  to  send  forth 
to  his  parishioners  a  short  weekly  paper — 
a  rare  thing  in  these  days — giving  them 
information  about  the  work  of  God  in 
America,  Holland,  Germany,  as  well  as  at 
home.  What  a  joyful  sight  would  Sabbath 
night's  meeting  of  inquirers  have  been  to 
him,  gathered  on  the  spot  where  he  so 
often  and  so  pathetically  called  on  his 
people  to  cry  for  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  on  Glasgow  and  Scotland ! 
He  prefaced  his  first  "  Exhortation  to  the 
hearers  in  the  College  Kirk "  by  such 
burning  words  as  these — "  Such  multitudes 
of  my  own  kin,  my  brothers  and  my  sisters, 
going  to  hell,  never  to  get  out  again .' 
Break,  break,  hard  heart !  You  who  read 
these  lines,  think  not  my  words  strange, 
but  weep  with  me,  if  you  are  men,  and  not 
stones.  O  Thou  who  didst  weep  over 
Jerusalem,  Thou  alone  canst  give  us  com- 
fort in  this  overwhelming  calamity ! 
Heavenly  Father,  for  Thy  Son's  sake,  be 
pleased  to  stir  up  many  diligently  to  preach 
the  Kingdom,  when  such  multitudes  of 
souls  are  in  danger  of  perishing!"  This 
Avas  in  1751.  Who  can  tell  but  that  that 
man  of  God  may,  even  at  this  hour,  have 
been  made  glad  by  hearing  the  tidings  told 
"  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God," 
that  many  sinners  are  repenting  in  Glasgow, 
and  that  there  have  been  many  who  looked 
to  Calvary  from  the  spot  where  he  used  so 
to  yearn  over  souls. 

The  Monday  prayer-meeting  is  a  time 
for  reports  of  the  work,  and  not  less  for 
thanksgiving.  Luke  xvii.  12-19  was  the 
Scripture  read.  The  inquiry-meeting  in 
the  evening  in  John  Street  Church  was 
very  large,  and  full  of  interest.  While  it 
was  going  on,  there  was  held  in  the  City 
Hall,  at  seven  o'clock,  an  evangelistic 
meeting,  which  had  some  peculiar  features. 
The  place  was  full.  Mr.  Moody  merely 
opened  with  a  few  remarks  on  the  object 
of  the  meeting  after  prayer  and  praise,  and 
then  addresses  were  given,  brief  and  point- 
ed, by  a  great  variety  of  speakers.  The 
attention  of  the  large  assembly  throughout 
did  not  flag,  and  some  were  deeply  im- 
pressed.    Mr.  Sankey  began  by  singing — - 


Not  ajar  the  gates  of  glory — 
They  are  open  day  and  night.' 


38 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Prayer  was  offered,  and  then  Dr.  Marshall 
Lang,  of  the  Barony  Church,  spoke  earnest- 
ly on  the  ark,  showing  its  door  open  for 
invitation  to  men,  as  is  Christ's  pierced 
side,  and  showing  the  ruin  of  all  outside 
the  ark.  Mr.  Moody  related  the  first  in- 
cident that  impressed  him,  and  awakened 
in  him  concern,  viz.,  the  deep  feeling 
manifested  for  him  by  his  Sabbath-school 
teacher.  The  hymn  was  then  sung  by  Mr. 
Sankey  and  the  choir,  "  Light  in  the 
valley."  Dr.  David  M'Ewan,  of  John 
Street  United  Presbyterian  Church,  then 
for  some  minutes  proclaimed  the  way  of 
life  through  the  Lord  Jesus,  illustrating  his 
statements  by  the  experience  of  John 
Wesley,  and  another  hymn  was  sung,  "  The 
Lifeboat."  Mr.  Bonar,  Finnieston  Free 
Church,  gave  an  incident  that  recently 
occurred  near  Dundee,  in  connection  with 
these  lines  of  that  hymn — 

"  Safe  in  the  Lifeboat,  sailor,  cling  to  self  no 
more, 
Leave  the  poor  old  stranded  wreck,  and  pull 
for  the  shore," 

and  then  proclaimed  the  Avay  of  salvation 
from  John  vi.  40.  He  was  followed  by 
Dr.  Wallace,  of  Campbell  Street  LPnited 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  set  forth  the 
sinner's  Saviour  by  an  illustration  taken 
from  what  he  had  witnessed  a  few  days 
ago  in  the  Highlands,  the  rescue  of  a 
perishing  sheep.  Ps.  xxiii.  was  sung,  and 
Mr.  Pirrett,  Burnbank  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  gave  a  warning  word  from  the  case 
of  one  he  had  known  who  wrested  to  his 
undoing  the  truth,  "  Once  in  Christ,  always 
in  Christ."  Mr.  Sankey  and  the  choir 
sang  "  Depth  of  Mercy,"  and  as  they  came 
to  the  chorus  from  time  to  time,  "  God  is 
love,  I  know,  I  feel ;  Jesus  lives,"  etc.,  the 
deepest  stillness  pervaded  the  meeting. 
Mr.  Campbell,  of  the  Wynd  Free  Church, 
spoke  to  those  present  who  might  be 
anxious,  and  Mr.  Howie  dropped  a  closing 
word,  urging  to  immediate  application. 
The  meeting  lasted  an  hour  and  forty 
minutes.  Inquirers  were  invited  on  leaving 
the  hall  to  join  those  met  in  John  Street 
Church. 

Wednesday^  Feb.  25///. — Yesterday's  noon 
rneeting  was  full  of  interest.  Dr.  Cairns, 
from  Berwick,  presided.  He  read  Isa.  xii. 
previous  to  telling  us  some  of  the  "  excel- 
lent things  "  which  the  Lord  has  been  do- 
ing in  Berwick.  After  "  declaring  His 
doings,"  he  earnestly  and  lovingly  urged 
all  ministers  and  believers  to  use  this  pres- 


ent tide-time,  by  going  to  individuals  and 
bringing  before  them  the  matters  of  salva- 
tion, not  waiting  till  they  came  to  ask. 
Mr.  Moody  afterwards  took  up  this  re- 
mark, enforcing  it,  and  pressing  it  on  all 
who  would  win  souls;  for  when  the  Son  of 
Man  came  to  "  save,"  He  first  of  all  went 
to  "  seek  "  the  lost.  Mr.  Goldie,  from  Stir- 
ling, Mr.  Bogue,  from  Stockton-on-Tees, 
and  Mr.  M'Nab,  from  Ardrossan  (the  last 
of  whom  had  been  taking  part  in  the  Lon- 
don work),  each  gave  details  of  what  the 
Lord  was  doing.  The  City  Hall  evening 
ineeting  had  been  specially  kept  for  friends 
from  Greenock,  Port-Glasgow,  Johnstone, 
and  other  places  on  the  same  line  of  rail- 
way, who  had  intimated  their  desire  to 
come,  but  there  were  fully  as  many  present 
from  the  city.  The  most  memorable  meet- 
ing that  evening  was  that  of  the  young 
men  in  Ewing  Place  Chapel  at  nine  o'clock. 
A  deputation  of  four  young  men  from 
Edinburgh  began  the  evening's  work,  each 
in  turn  speaking  with  persuasive  earnest- 
ness and  affection.  Then  Dr.  Cairns,  with 
freshness  and  fervor,  as  if  he  had  returned 
to  the  days  of  his  youth,  addressed  them, 
and  was  followed  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Wilson, 
from  Edinburgh,  who  brought  them  to  the 
point,  "  Why  not  to-night.?"  When  Mr. 
Moody  came  in,  he  saw  the  impression 
resting  on  the  meeting,  and  proposed  that 
at  once,  on  the  spot,  opportunity  should  be 
given  of  dealing  with  all  w/io  desired  to 
take  Christ  as  theirs.  The  three  front 
seats  of  the  church  were  cleared,  and  an 
invitation  given  to  those  young  men  pres- 
ent who  professed  to  have  this  desire  to 
come  forward.  The  seats  were  imme- 
diately filled,  and  when  three  other  seats 
had  been  cleared  as  before,  another  stream 
of  young  men  poured  in.  Some  one  pres- 
ent counted  in  all  loi,  and  there  were 
others  who  felt  as  those  who  came  forward, 
though  they  kept  their  seats.  During 
prayer  intense  emotion  Avas  manifested  by 
many  and  an  awful  solemnity  was  felt  to 
pervade  the  place.  It  was  a  night  not  to 
be  forgotten.  Christian  friends  remained 
conversing  with  the  anxious  till  about 
twelve  o'clock.  And  I  may  add  that  next 
night  the  chapel  was  filled  with  900  or 
1,000  young  men,  who  were  again  address- 
ed by  the  deputation  from  Edinburgh  and 
others.  When  Mr.  Sankey  had  simg 
"  Almost  Persuaded,"  Mr.  Moody  asked 
all  to  retire  except  those  who  wished  to 
converse  about  their  souls'  salvation. 
There  must  have  been  not  fewer  than  140 


GLASGOW. 


39 


who  remained,  and  Christian  workers  were 
occupied  with  them  till  near  twelve  o'clock. 
It  was  a  glorious  harvest  field. 

The  Wednesday  noon  meeting,  I  must 
not  forget  to  say,  was  as  crowded  as  ever. 
The  Rev.  J.  H.  Wilson  read  Acts  ii.  42- 
47,  as  descriptive,  in  its  main  features,  of 
the  work  of  God  in  Edinburgh,  and  most 
urgently  did  he  press  all  Christians  to  say, 
every  man  to  his  neighbor,  and  every 
man  to  his  brother,  "  Know  the  Lord,"  giv- 
ing illustrative  incidents  occurring  in  all 
rahks  of  society.  Dr.  William  Wilson, 
from  Dundee,  followed,  and  bore  testimony 
to  the  blessing  in  that  town,  and  its  con- 
tinuance. If  the  meetings  were  not  so 
crowded  as  before,  there  was  nevertheless 
evidence,  day  by  day,  that  the  Spirit  was 
still  working  in  the  midst  of  them.  Mr. 
Taylor,  of  Kelvinside  Free  Church,  gave  a 
word  of  exhortation,  and  Dr.  Wallace,  of 
Campbell  Street  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  called  attention  to  the  young 
women  of  Glasgow,  of  whom  there  must 
be  far  more  than  70,000. 

Thursday^  Feb.  26th. — To-day's  noon 
meeting  was  lively  and  warm.  After  sing- 
ing and  presenting  to  the  Lord  in  silent 
and  public  prayer  the  numerous  requests. 
Matt.  vii.  7-11  was  read,  in  connection 
with  which  Mr.  Moody  detailed  several 
most  interesting  answers  to  prayer  he  had 
just  heard  of  in  letters  from  America.  One 
of  the  cases  was  the  following  : — He  had 
once,  after  most  urgent  solicitation,  preach- 
ed in  a  small  church  in  the  prairies,  where 
one  Christian  woman  continued  praying 
day  and  night  for  the  pleasure-loving  young 
people,  whose  only  enjoyment  seemed  to 
be  the  song  and  the  dance.  A  letter  re- 
ceived that  morning  brought  the  cheering 
tidings  that  in  that  same  spot  thirty-two 
young  men  were  now  on  the  Lord's  side, 
and  working  for  Him.  Mr.  Keay,  of  Free 
Trinity  Church,  spoke  of  last  night  as  the 
most  fruitful  in  his  ministry.  He  had  been 
detained  in  his  vestry  fot  five  hours,  partly 
conversing  with  inquirers,  and  partly  hear- 
ing the  story  of  deliverance  given  to  awak- 
ened ones.  Dr.  Buchanan,  Free  College 
Church,  read  a  letter  from  all  the  evangel- 
ical ministers  of  Kirkwall,  and  thirty  el- 
ders, inviting  our  beloved  and  honored 
American  brethren  to  come  and  help  them. 
He  then  asked  all  to  unite  in  prayer  for 
these  brethren  in  the  Orkney  Isles.  A 
brother  related  a  remarkable  blessing  fol- 
lowing on  his  personal  dealing  with  a  sea 
captain,  afterwards  lost  in  the  Black  Sea, 


who,  saved  himself,  became  a  blessing  to 
his  house.  Mr.  Gebbie,  minister  of  the 
Established  Church,  Dunlop,  pressed  the 
duty  of  personal  dealing.  One  of  the 
deputation  from  Edinburgh  suggested  that 
those  who  dealt  with  souls  should  be  very 
cautious  of  mentioning  in  public  any  of 
their  conversations  with  them.  Dr.  Mar- 
shall Lang  referred  to  the  remark  made 
yesterday  by  Dr.  Wallace,  regarding  the 
young  women  of  Glasgow,  for  whom  more 
might  be  done  by  Christian  ladies.  After 
a  few  minutes  of  silent  prayer,  some  no- 
tices were  given,  and  the  meeting  closed. 

The  Bible-reading  yesterday  was  the 
closing  part  of  Mr.  Moody's  subject, 
"  Heaven,  its  treasures,  etc.,"  intensely 
interesting  and  useful.  To-day's  subject 
was,  "  The  Love  of  God,"  repeated  in 
John  Street  Church,  in  the  evening,  to  a 
densely-crowded  audience.  At  the  close 
of  the  address  in  the  evening,  not  less  than 
two  hundred  remained  for  conversation. 
There  are  new  inquirers  every  day,  and 
throughout  the  city  ministers  are  contin- 
ually discovering  traces  of  the  Lord's  foot- 
steps, and  are  themselves  stirred  up  to 
more  earnest,  prayerful,  expectant  minis- 
trations. 

Thanks  have  this  week  been  offered  for 
at  least  three  students  brought  to  Christ; 
and  thanks  for  the  conversion  of  two 
youths  who,  on  Sabbath  last,  came  to  hear 
simply  by  way  of  amusement,  and  who 
came  into  the  inquiry-meeting  for  no  other 
end.  The  Lord  "  was  found  of  them  that 
sought  Him  not." 

On  the  memorable  Tuesday  night  of  the 
young  men's  meeting,  a  youth  from  Ire- 
land was  led,  on  his  way  to  the  theatre,  to 
turn  aside  into  Ewing  Place  Chapel,  and  it 
became  his  birth-place  for  eternity.  He 
had  come  to  town  with  a  full  purpose  of 
finding  out  its  gaieties  and  pleasures,  and 
of  returning  home  to  tell  his  companions 
what  he  had  enjoyed.  That  night  he  was 
"  apprehended  "  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  under 
the  solemn,  stirring  appeals  of  the  deputa- 
tion from  Edinburgh.  When  opportunity 
to  come  forward  for  special  prayer  was 
given  to  all  who  would  fain  be  decided  for 
the  Lord,  he  pressed  forward  at  once ;  all 
the  time  that  prayer  was  offered  by  various, 
pleaders,  his  one  cry  from  the  heart  was„ 
"  Lord,  have  mercy  on  me,  a  sinner !  "  _He 
saw  and  understood  the  way  of  salvation, 
but  one  difficulty  remained,  viz.,  "  What 
would  he  feel  or  do  on  the  morrow.?" 
This  difficulty,  however,  was  removed  by 


4° 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  remark  of  one  with  whom  he  con- 
versed, who  said,  "  Surely,  if  you  trust 
Jesus  to  save  you,  you  may  trust  Him  to 
keep  you  ever  after."  He  returned  to  his 
room  that  niglit  only  to  tell  his  astonished 
friend  that  now  he  was  a  new  creature. 
Every  thought  about  theatre,  opera,  amuse- 
ment, had  given  place  to  the  one  absorb- 
ing thought  of  salvation,  and  a  Saviour 
found ! 


FOURTH    LETTER. 


"  There  is  something  far  better  than 
gold.  God  thinks  so  little  of  gold  that  in 
the  New  Jerusalem  it  is  used  for  paving 
the  streets."  In  one  of  his  Bible-readings 
Mr.  Moody  made  the  above  remark,  and 
every  Christian  man  will  understand  it. 
Even  the  joy  of  winning  souls,  and  of  see- 
ing souls  won  to  Christ,  is  better  joy  than 
the  world's  best.  And  the  Lord  is  giving 
largely  of  His  gladness  to  His  own  at  this 
time. 

The  "  thanksgivings "  at  the  various 
meetings  are  worthy  of  notice,  were  it  only 
in  the  way  of  reminding  our  readers  that, 
like  frankincense  put  to  the  meat  offering 
(Lev.  ii.  2),  this  grace  must  be  in  actual 
exercise  wherever  true  prayer  is  going  up. 
"  In  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication, 
with  thanksgiving"  (Phil.  iv.  6),  is  the 
divine  rule.  The  leper  who  has  been 
blessed  must  return  to  give  glor}^  to  God. 

There  is  a  children's  meeting  held  every 
Saturday ;  it  is  crowded.  Other  persons 
are  not  admitted  unless  they  are  bringing 
some  children  with  them.  As  yet,  there  is 
no  very  general  movement  among  the 
young,  though  there  are  many  cases  of  de- 
cided conversion  in  several  of  our  Sabbath 
schools.  When  Mr.  E.  P.  Hammond  was 
here  among  us,  six  years  ago,  the  great 
blessing  came  on  the  young,  and  only 
drops  fell  on  the  older  ones.  The  Lord  is 
sovereign  as  to  times  and  ways  of  working. 

The  meetings  this  week  are  as  interesting 
as  ever.  We  have  had  help  from  brethren 
who  sympathize  in  the  work,  such  as  Mr. 
George  Wilson,  of  the  Tolbooth  Church, 
Edinburgh ;  Mr.  Maclaren,  from  Man- 
chester, so  well  known  in  the  churches  ; 
and  Mr.  Arnot,  from  Edinburgh.  At  the 
daily  prayer-meeting,  it  is  now  an  every- 
day thing  to  see  the  pulpit-stairs,  and  the 
three  front  seats,  filled  with  ministers  from 
town  and  country.  There  are  about  a 
hundred  ministers  oftentimes,  and  most 
truly  was  it  said  the  other  day,  "  Every 


minister  is  worth  a  hundred  other  persons," 
in  reference  to  the  vast  influence  they  may 
exert  on  their  people  when  they  are  them- 
selves filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  White- 
field  used  to  say,  in  regard  to  this,  that 
"  every  minister's  name  was  Legiofi."  Will 
the  Lord's  people  cry  mightily  to  God  ip 
their  behalf  at  this  season .?  If  we  ministers 
get  the  fullness  of  the  blessing,  if  we  get  a 
fresh  and  full  anointing  from  tlie  Holy  One, 
thousands  throughout  the  land  will  soon 
know  it. 

But  let  me  turn  to  the  young  men's 
meetings.  On  Sabbath  morning,  at  nine 
o'clock  (March  i),  there  was  a  gathering 
in  the  City  Hall  of  the  young  men  of  the 
Glasgow  Christian  Associations.  With 
these  3,000  before  him,  Mr.  Moody  spoke 
from  the  words,  *'  Run,  speak  to  this 
young  man  "  (Zech.  ii.  4),  Mr.  Sankey  and 
his  choir  singing  such  hymns  as  "  Jesus, 
the  water  of  life,  will  give,  freely,  freely, 
freely;"  "What  are  you  going  to  do, 
brother.?"  ending  with  "Hold  the  fort,  for 
I  am  coming !" 

On  Tuesday  evening,  Mr.  Maclaren,  of 
Manchester,  addressed  a  vast  assembly  of 
the  same  class  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  Wellington  Street.  He  spoke 
from  John  iii.  16,  "God  so  loved  the 
world,"  etc.  After  setting  before  them  in 
this  glorious  passage  the  manifestation  and 
outpouring  of  the  love  of  God,  he  called 
attention  to  this  feature  of  the  verse — viz., 
that  it  put  the  negative  side  ("  not  perish  ") 
first,  and  the  positive  side  ("  have  ever- 
lasting life ")  afterwards.  The  reason  of 
this  is,  that  every  man  who  does  not  believe 
perishes.  Notwithstanding  that  great  love 
of  God,  there  is  certain  destruction  to 
every  soul  that  closes  itself  against  Him. 
"  He  that  believeth  not  is  condemned  al- 
ready ;"  and  this  "  is  the  condemnation 
that  men  love  the  darkness." 

Mr.  Arnot,  of  the  Free  High  Church, 
Edinburgh,  addressed  a  similar  gathering 
on  Wednesday  night,  taking  2  Pet.  i.  3-7 
as  his  subject,  impressing  on  them  the  two 
subjects  of  faith  and  holiness,  and  the  con- 
nection between  these  two  graces. 

Every  night  at  nine  o'clock  the  young 
men  meet,  and  the  work  among  them 
makes  steady  progress.  On  Monday  even- 
ing Mr.  Moody,  as  usual,  came  in  near  the  , 
close  of  the  hour,  read  Rom.  x.  10,  and 
made  some  happy  remarks  on  the  impor- 
tance of"  confessing  Christ  with  the  mouth." 
Through  neglect  of  this,  many  are  left 
in  something  like  darkness,  and  have  llitte 


GLASGO IV. 


41 


joy.  We  ought  to  speak  for  Christ ;  at  the 
same  time  we  must  beware  of  spiritual 
pride.  Heart  utterances  are  what  we 
want,  not  flowing  eloquence.  Whenever 
the  devil  whispers,  "  That  was  a  good  ad- 
dress," you  are  in  danger. 

After  a  hymn  had  been  sung,  an  oppor- 
tunity was  given  to  those  recently  brought 
to  Christ  to  tell  "  how  great  things  the 
Lord  had  done  for  them,  and  how  He  had 
had  compassion  on  them  "  (see  Mark  v. 
19).  The  first  young  man  who  spoke 
began  by  saying,  "  I  was  one  of  the  loi." 
He  meant  by  this  expression  to  refer  to  the 
memorable  Tuesday  night  last  week,  when 
a  breathing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  passed 
through  the  assembly,  and  loi  young  men 
came  to  the  front  seats,  asking  to  be  prayed 
for,  and  guided  into  the  truth.  The 
speaker  added,  "I  have  been  wishing  to 
be  saved  for  many  years.  When  those 
who  were  sure  that  they  were  Christians 
were  asked  to  stand  up,  I  felt  that  I  could 
not  honestly  do  so,  though  I  was  a  member 
of  the  Church,  a  Sabbath-school  teacher, 
and  was  one  of  the  ten  who  had  sent  in  a 
request  for  our  warehouse  for  prayer  on 
our  behalf.  I  kept  my  seat.  Mr.  Moody 
then  asked  all  that  were  Christians  to 
leave  the  three  front  pews.  I  occupied 
one  of  these,  and  when  the  others  went  out 
I  kept  my  place.  Thinking  that  I  had, 
perhaps,  misunderstood  him,  Mr.  Moody 
kindly  said  to  me,  '  Are  you  not  a  Chris- 
tian V  I  said,  *  I  am  not.'  But  that  very 
night  I  found  Christ," 

A  young  student  next  spoke.  "  I  also 
was  one  of  the  loi  that  night.  Though 
taking  part  in  Christian  work,  I  felt  my 
need  of  what  I  had  not  found.  That  night, 
at  the  meeting  for  conversation,  five  of  the 
young  men  in  succession  spoke  to  me ;  and, 
unknown  to  the  other,  quoted  to  me  John  v. 
24,  '  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  you,  He  that 
heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  Him 
that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life.'  I  was 
at  length  enabled  to  apprehend  the  truth, 
and  I  now  thank  the  Lord  for  saving  me, 
and  pray  that  all  here  may  be  brought  to 
Christ." 

Another  spoke.  "  I  had  been  seeking 
Christ  a  long  time.  That  night,  when  I 
was  going  away  without  relief,  Mr.  Moody 
came  up,  and  took  me  kindly  by  the  hand. 
He  looked  at  me — I  might  say  he  put  his 
two  eyes  right  through  mine — and  asked 
me  if  I  would  take  Christ  now.  I  could 
not  speak,  but  my  heart  said.  Yes." 

The  above  may  give  some  idea  of  the  in- 


tensely interesting  scene.  A  dozen  more 
declared  what  God  had  done  for  their 
souls.  Not  only  that  night,  but  on  some 
of  the  after  evenings,  a  similar  scene  has 
been  witnessed.  Last  night,  one  very  in- 
telligent young  man  told  briefly,  but  very 
clearly,  what  his  state  had  been  till  he  was 
awakened  on  Sabbath  evening  last,  and 
how  miserable  he  had  been  on  the  follow- 
ing days,  not  being  able  to  see  that  salva- 
tion was  for  him.  Getting  a  ray  of  light, 
he  went  home,  read  John  iii.  2,(>y  "  He  that 
believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life," 
and  sought  on  his  knees  to  be  led  into  the 
truth.  "  And,"  he  added,  "  God  heard  me. 
I  believed  then  ;  I  believe  now ;  I  am  a 
ransomed  soul."  And  that  the  Lord  is  in 
these  meetings  who  could  doubt  who  saw, 
two  nights  ago,  sixty  or  seventy  of  these 
young  men,  when  the  invitation  was  given, 
rise  up  from  their  seats,  as  an  intimation 
that  they  desired  to  be  prayed  for,  and  be 
led  to  Christ.  Our  Scottish  youth  are  not  ' 
at  all  demonstrative  in  regard  to  their  feel- 
ings ;  it  is  not  usual  for  them  to  tell  out 
what  is  passing  in  their  hearts  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  state  towards  God ;  and  this 
fact  makes  the  present  movement  all  the 
more  remarkable.  Till  they  have  got  faith 
they  are  slow  to  speak  about -their  feelings. 

On  Wednesday,  at  mid-day,  there  was  a 
prayer-meeting  of  fathers  for  their  children, 
and  on  Thursday  of  mothers.  To-day  a 
meeting  of  sisters  was  held  in  Ewing  Place 
Chapel,  to  which  so  many  came  that  the 
place  was  filled.  I  understand  that  there 
was  deep  solemnity  in  the  meeting,  and 
much  impression.  Mr.  Moody  stepped  in 
to  speak  an  encouraging  and  guiding  word ; 
and  it  may  be  this  meeting  of  sisters  may 
yet  become  a  mighty  power  among  the 
young  women  of  Glasgow. 

If  time  and  your  space  permitted,  I  have 
at  hand  more  facts,  which  would  all  be  in- 
teresting. Above  200  persons  came  on 
Monday  evening  to  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  John  street,  as  persons  who 
had  recently  been  awakened.  Of  these, 
seventy-five  professed  to  have  found  Christ. 
Last  night  there  was  a  large  number  of  in- 
quirers in  the  Free  College  Church.  _  This 
week  the  evangelistic  meetings  are  in  the 
Free  College  Church,  the  overflow  passing 
into  the  Park  Established  Church. 

I  am  writing  you  about  Glasgow  speci- 
ally ;  but  you  may  like  to  get  notice  of 
God's  work  in  less  known  localities.  Re- 
quests for  prayer  come  to  hand  from  all 
quarters — e.  g-,  one  came  to  me,  asking  my 


42 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


congregation  to  pray  for  a  work  of  God  in 
the  district  of  John  O'Groats' House;  and 
another  from  Christian  friends  who  live 
near  Cape  Wrath.  Preaching  on  Wednes- 
day at  Auchterarder,  I  found  unmistakable 
traces  of  God's  doings  in  that  quarter ;  and 
passmg  on  in  the  evening  to  Dollar,  found 
an  assembly  of  above  i,ooo  ,souls,  eager  to 
hear  the  Word  ;  and  at  the  close,  besides 
others,  about  fifty  of  the  boys  and  young 
of  the  Dollar  Institute  waited  for  conver- 
sation and  inquiry.  At  the  Stirling  noon- 
day prayer-meeting,  next  day,  there  was  a 
large  attendance.  There  have  been  not  a 
few  awakened  there  of  late,  and  the  inter- 
est is  deepening.  The  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations take  part  most  cordially. 
There,  too,  I  heard  of  work  going  on  not 
only  in  such  places  as  Alva  and  Dunferm- 
line, but  in  obscure  parishes.  Souls  are 
coming  from  great  distances  to  ask  the 
way  of  life  at  the  lips  of  those  who  can  tell 
it,  and  these  souls  awakened  to  this  con- 
cern by  no  direct  means,  but  evidently  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  breathing  over  the 
land.  It  is  such  a  time  as  we  never  had 
in  Scotland  before.  The  same  old  gospel 
is  preached  to  all  men  as  aforetime  ;  Christ, 
who  was  made  sin  for  us,  Christ  the  Sub- 
stitute, Christ's  blood,  Christ's  righteous- 
ness, Christ  crucified,  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation ; 
but  now  the  gospel  is  preached  "  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven."  And 
amid  all  this  the  enemy  is  restrained,  so 
that  we  are  solemnly  reminded  of  Rev.  vii. 
1-3,  the  time  before  the  coming  of  the 
Lord,  Avhen  the  four  angels  are  charged  to 
let  no  storm  burst,  not  to  allow  the  wind 
even  to  ruffle  the  sea's  smooth  surface,  or 
move  a  leaf  of  any  tree,  till  the  seal  of  the 
living  God  has  been  put  on  His  elect.  Is 
not  this  sealing  going  on  daily  among  us } 
Are  not  the  four  angels  looking  on } 
Surely  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord,  that  He 
may  rain  righteousness  upon  us. 


FIFTH    LETTER. 


"  The  kingdom  of  Heaven  suffereth  vio- 
lence, and  the  violent  take  it  by  force  " 
(Matt.  xi.  12),  was  said  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist's days.  In  answer  to  such  prayers  as 
he  sent  up  during  his  thirty  years  in  the 
deserts  of  Judea,  the  Holy  Ghost  was  at 
work,  and  everywhere  were  found  men  in 
right  and  real  earnest  about  salvation.  You 
might  have  seen  them  thronging  the  road 
to  Jericho  and  the  wilderness,  leaving 
home,  comforts,  business,  friends,  intent 


on  the  one  great  matter  that  filled  their 
minds  day  and  night.  *'  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  suffereth  violence  " — men  pressed 
into  it  with  all  the  eager  determination 
with  which  soldiers  press  into  an  assailed 
city  (like  Coomassie) — "  and  the  violent 
took  it  by  force."  Those  who  were  thus 
intensely  earnest  snatched,  as  the  word 
means,  the  kingdom  at  once,  as  the  robber 
does  the  purse  he  covets,  seizing  his  op- 
portunity. All  this  we  see  before  our  eyes 
in  the  present  time  of  revival;  men  are 
truly  in  earnest,  and  they  catch  the  gift  of 
God  at  once,  while  the  cold  formalists 
wonder  and  dispute  against  sudden  con- 
versions, "  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor 
the  power  of  God." 

When  I  closed  last  week's  letter,  I  men- 
tioned various  places  in  Scotland  where 
God  was  working.  There  are  many  other 
districts  equally  interesting.  At  Aberuth- 
ven,  near  Auchterarder,  almost  every  house 
in  the  village  has  some  one  under  its  roof 
awakened  by  the  Spirit.  In  Dumfriesshire, 
at  Lockerbie  and  at  Moffat,  not  less  than 
seventy  in  each  place  have  been  awakened. 
Near  Glasgow,  not  Chryston  only,  but 
other  places,  such  as  Kirkintilloch,  are 
shaken.  At  the  daily  prayer-meeting  last 
Monday,  it  was  stated  that  there  had  been 
not  less  than  300  inquirers  and  converts  in 
the  inquiry  meeting  in  Free  St.  David's  on 
Sabbath  evening.  A  friend  mentioned 
that  at  Dalmellington,  in  Ayrshire,  a  work 
had  begun ;  seven  had  been  lately  con- 
verted. Dr.  Black,  of  United  Presbyterian 
Wellington  Church,  gave  extracts  from  a 
letter  from  England,  showing  a  work  be- 
gun in  a  district  where  there  had  been  no 
special  means.  Mr.  Moody  read,  from 
letters  just  received,  accounts  of  friends 
brought  to  Christ.  Mr.  Wells,  of  Free 
Barony  Church,  stated  that  he  had  a  list 
of  seventy  persons  in  his  congregation  who 
had  received  blessing  during  the  meetings. 
Mr.  Barlas,  of  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
Belgrave  street,  stated  cases  occurring  in 
his  district.  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Free  Church, 
Kelvinside,  spoke  of  this  last  week  as  the 
happiest  in  his  ministry  since  he  came  to 
Glasgow.  He  had  seen  abundant  proof 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  at  work  in  the 
midst  of  the  city.  His  visits  as  a  pastor 
brought  to  light  most  interesting  cases,  in 
all  grades  of  society.  All  sorts  of  instru- 
mentality also  seemed  to  be  employed.  He 
had  been  told  of  one  awakened  by  the 
singing  of  the  hymn  where  these  words 
occur — 

"  Let  some  droppings  fall  on  tnc — even  me" 


GLASGO  W. 


43 


One  day  thanks  were  given  for  a  person 
who  had  been  blessed  while  the  hymn, 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by,"  was  be- 
ing sung ;  and  several  other  cases  were 
reported  in  which  the  same  hymn  had 
been  blessed.  Last  night  I  met  a  Chris- 
tian working-man,  who  joyfully  informed 
me  that  "in  the  building-yard  where  he 
worked,  this  week  there  had  been  two 
boys  and  three  men  brought  to  Christ." 
"  I  give  thanks  for  six,"  was  on  a  paper 
handed  in  at  the  prayer-meeting ;  while  a 
disciple,  who  had  for  many  years  been 
pleading  for  the  conversion  of  near  and 
dear  relatives,  asked  the  meeting  to  join 
him  in  thanksgiving  for  a  daughter  saved, 
a  nephew  and  several  nieces.  A  letter 
said  :  "  We  cannot  leave  Glasgow  without 
telling  you  that  the  brother  whom  we  told 
you  of  as  having  come  here  to  attend  the 
meetings,  left  for  London  this  evening,  we 
firmly  believe,  resting  in  Jesus." 

A  lady  asked  prayer  for  her  own  con- 
version, stating,  "  I  have  come  from  Swit- 
zerland on  purpose  to  be  present  at  the 
meetings.  1  have  every  reason  to  believe 
in  the  power  of  prayer,  having  been  cured 
through  prayer,  at  a  small  village  in  Swit- 
zerland, after  having  been  dangerously  ill 
for  thirteen  years.  I  should  be  extremely 
sorry  to  leave  Glasgow  without  receiv- 
ing what  I  came  for.  I  have  been  well 
brought  up,  but  am  not  a  Christian."  A 
case  like  this  reminds  us  of  Acts  v.  i6  : 
"  Then  came  a  multitude  out  of  the 
cities  round  about,  bringing  their  sick 
folks,  and  them  that  were  vexed  with  un- 
clean spirits." 

And  yet  more,  this  other,  from  a  person 
about  twenty  miles  out  of  town  :  "  Dear 
sir, — Would  you  kindly  forward  four  tick- 
ets to  admit  to  the  morning  meeting  on 
Sabbath  first  to  the  City  Hall.  I  have 
never  had  the  pleasure  of  being  present 
at  any  of  these  precious  meetings  that 
have  been  held  in  Glasgow,  though  a  con- 
stant reader  of  the  reports  given  in  the 
various  newspapers  ;  but  I  will  be  in  Glas- 
gow on  Sabbath  first  along  with  three 
friends.  Going  in  the  spirit  of  anxious 
inquirers,  we  pray  God  that  it  may  be  our 
blessed  privilege  to  come  home  having 
found  that  Christ  is  indeed  precious  to 
each  of  us." 

Another  day,  at  noon,  four  young  men, 
from  a  mining  district  in  Ayrshire,  were 
found  waiting  at  the  close  of  the  meeting 
to  speak  to  Mr.  Moody,  if  possible-  He 
had  gone  out ;  but  they  sat  down  in  the 
inquiry-room  with  one  of   the   ministers 


who  was  still  there.  "Are  you  all  of  one 
mind  .-*  are  you  all  in  Christ  ?  "  was  the 
question  put  to  them.  "  Three  of  us  are  • 
Christ's,  but  our  friend  here  (pointing  to 
the  fourth)  is  not."  The  minister  entered 
into  conversation  with  the  unsaved  but 
anxious  one,  and  found  out  his  state  of 
mind.  He  showed  him  that  Christ  was 
offering  to  be  his  substitute,  and  to  appear 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  him,  and  asked, 
"  Will  you  believe  in  Him  as  He  so  offers 
Himself  to  you  ?  "  In  a  moment  the  lad's 
countenance  changed,  and,  half  springing 
from  his  seat,  he  struck  the  Bible  with  his 
hand,  exclaiming,  "  I  see  it  all !  "  The 
scale  had  fallen  from  his  eyes,  and  he, 
with  his  three  friends,  who  had  been  to 
him  like  the  friends  of  the  palsied  man, 
left  the  room  to  return  home  by  the  train, 
rejoicing. 

One  other  case.    A  young  man  attracted 
Mr.  Moody's  attention  at  an  inquiry-meet- 
ing,  an  intelligent   young  man  who  had 
long  been  anxious.      Mr.  Moody  discov- 
ered that  one  thing  had  hindered  his  full 
decision,  viz.,  want  of  courage  to  tell  his 
wife  all  that  was  passing  through  his  mind. 
But  last  Sabbath   afternoon  he  was  ena- 
bled to  go  home  and  frankly  tell  all  he 
felt     It  turned  out  that  she  too  was   in 
deep  anxiety,  only  waiting  to  have  the  ice 
broken.      The  result  has  been  complete 
deliverance  of   soul  to  that  young  man, 
who  is  now  able  to  help  othersin  the  way. 
A  similar  case  to  the  above  is    the    one 
brought  out  in  the  following  letter  from 
one    in    Edinburgh,   which    Mr.   Sankey 
read  yesterday  :  "  I  have  such  good  news 
to  tell  you.     When  you  were_  here,  you 
wanted  me  to  write  to  my  sister  about 
Jesus  and  coming  to  Him ;   but  my  old 
sinful  heart  went  dead  against  it.     Dr.  S., 
however,  began  to  tell  me  that  my  health 
was  very  precarious,  and  all  your  advice 
came  back  to  me.     I  did  write  to  my  sis- 
ter, a   girl   about   sixteen.     My  want  of 
faith  has  been  reproved ;  for  I  had  such  a 
letter  from  her,  telling  me   she  had  felt 
sure  all  this  winter  that  there  had  been  a 
change  in  me,  and  why  I  had  not  written 
to  her  before  ;  and  she  ended  by  confess- 
ing that  she  could  resist  no  longer,  but 
had  taken  Christ,  and,  God  helping  her, 
would    live   for   Him.      Please    pray   for 
her,  and  encourage  all  young  converts  to 
write  to  their  friends.     Another  thing  you 
wanted  me  to  do  went  fearfully  against 
the  grain,  and  that  was  to  hold  meetings. 
Had  anybody  told  me  last  year  that  I'd 
ever  come  to  do  such  a  thing,  I'd  have 


44 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


scoffed  at  them.  So  you  see  it's  nothing 
of  myself,  but  something  that  makes  me, 
in  spite  of  myself,  long  to  work  for  Jesus. 
Will  you  pray  for  my  Canongate  meeting  .? 
I've  got  such  bad  characters  ;  oh,  if  I  could 
only  reach  them  !  drunkards,  and  profane 
people  who  don't  believe  in  hell — my  heart 
just  yearns  over  them.  It  was  a  fearful 
effort  at  first  to  speak  for  Christ,  but  now 
'  I  love  to  tell  the  story,'  for  'AH  to  Christ 
I  owe.'  As  I  came  home  last  night  I 
heard  such  beautiful  singing  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  lowest  streets  here.  Com- 
ing up  I  found  some  young  men  were 
singing  '  Depths  of  Mercy,'  in  parts,  and 
whenever  they  had  gathered  a  crowd,  in- 
vited them  to  accompany  them  to  the 
meeting.  A  great  many  followed  them. 
I  know  it  will  cheer  Mr.  Moody  to  hear 
of  the  hint  he  threw  out  being  thus  taken 
up  by  these  young  Christians.  The  work 
here  goes  on  wonderfully ;  it  is  too  great 
to  be  spoken  of. — Your  loving  friend  in 
Christ." 

I  am  scarcely  leaving  myself  space  to 
speak  of  other  parts  of  the  work.  The  evan- 
gelistic meetings  have  been  held  this  week 
again  in  the  Free  College  Church.  The 
subjects  have  been,  "Where  art  thou.?" 
"  How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opin- 
ions.'' "  and  "Sir,  remember."  The  last 
of  these  addresses  was  awfully  solemn. 
Mr.  Moody  related,  as  an  illustration  of 
memory  being  ready  to  yield  back  all  the 
past  at  God's  touch,  how  he  himself  in 
early  days  was  nearly  drowned,  sinking 
twice,  and  caught  the  third  time  he  came 
to  the  surface.  During  the  time  he  was 
under  water,  all  that  was  buried  in  his 
memory  came  up  before  him.  And  so 
the  memory  of  Abel's  blood  flowing  from 
the  deadly  wound  is  ever  before  Cain,  and 
so  with  all  the  sins  of  sinners.  This 
makes  hell  terrible  beyond  measure,  and 
there  is  no  sleep  there.  "  If  I  did  not  be- 
lieve in  hell  for  ever,  would  I  (said  he) 
come  here  to  preach  night  after  night  1 
If  I  did  not  believe  in  that  hell,  I  would 
be  off  to  my  home  by  the  first  boat  that 
sails  from  the  Clyde." 

The  Bible-readings  have  been  in  the 
Park  Church  (Established),  and  the  sub- 
jects this  week  have  been  "  The  Holy 
Ghost,"  "Jacob,"  "Daniel."  All  the 
meetings  are  crowded  to  the  door  more 
than  ever,  and  there  is  daily  fruit. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  the  members  of 
the  Glasgow  Young  Men's  Society  for 
Religious   Improvement,   filled    the   City 


Hall  at  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  There  were 
young  men  present  who  had  walked  in 
that  morning  from  Englcsham,  Kilbride, 
and  other  places.  We  do  thank  God  that 
Mr.  Moody's  "  hands  are  made  strong  by 
the  mighty  God  of  Jacob,"  so  that  he  is 
able  to  work  night  and  day,  and  certainly 
he  never  wearies  in  spirit.  He  read  Luke 
xi.x.  1-13,  and  spoke  briefly  to  the  saved 
on  "  Occupy  till  I  come,"  urging  them 
this  week  to  resolve  by  God's  grace,  every 
one  of  them,  to  speak  to  and  seek  the 
conversion  of  at  least  one  soul  each.  A 
large  number,  when  opportunity  was  given, 
rose  in  response  to  this  appeal,  and  during 
the  week  it  was  evident  that  the  resolution 
was  not  forgotten.  One  petition  came  in 
to  the  noon-day  prayer-meeting  "  from  a 
young  man  who  promised  to  seek  to  bring 
a  soul  to  Jesus;  pray  that  he  may  have 
grace  to  be  faithful  in  dealing  with  two 
young  men  in  his  warehouse  who  are  anx- 
ious to  find  peace  in  Jesus."  The  main 
part  of  the  address  was  to  the  unsaved, 
and  when,  in  his  closing  prayer,  Mr. 
Moody  stopped  for  half  a  minute,  there 
was  profound  silence  over  that  assembly 
of  3,000  young  men,  broken  in  upon  by 
the  yearning,  urgent  pleading,  "  O  Lord, 
speak  to  them  !  speak  to  them  Thyself!  " 
At  the  Young  Men's  meeting  in  Ewing 
Place  Chapel  on  Tuesday  evening,  Mr, 
John  Burns,  of  Castle  Wemyss,  presided, 
and  gave  a  most  hearty  address.  He  read 
from  and  held  up  the  character  of  Nehe- 
miah.  "  We  business  men  in  this  great 
city  are  exposed  to  many  temptations,  and 
are  often  in  great  perplexity.  Let  us,  like 
Nehemiah,  '  pray  to  the  God  of  heaven.* 
Speaking  from  experience,  I  can  testify  to 
the  value  of  prayer  in  the  case  of  business 
men.  I  have  great  faith  in  prayer,  silent 
and  instant  prayer.  We  have  not  time 
during  the  day,  in  the  midst  of  business, 
to  go  to  our  knees ;  but  let  our  hearts  go 
up."  He  then  spoke  of  the  work  now 
going  on,  as  a  work  of  God,  from  which 
the  best  fruits  might  be  expected.  He 
was  followed,  in  a  few  Avords,  by  Arch- 
deacon McLean,  who  accompanied  him. 
As  usual,  a  large  number  of  the  young 
men  waited  for  inquiry.  One  of  them-  , 
selves,  on  Wednesday  evening,  spoke  as 
follows ;  and  his  words  were  felt  by  all 
present :  "  I  would  like  to  say  a  word  as 
to  the  power  of  prayer.  Seven  years  ago, 
about  a  stone-throw  from  where  we  now 
stand,  a  young  sneering  infidel  retired  to 
his  bed  on  a  Sabbath   evening.     About 


GLASGOW. 


45 


three  hours  after,  that  same  youth  rose 
and  cried  to  God  to  have  mercy  on  his 
soul.  Some  of  you  may  say,  '  Oh,  that's 
a  story  made  up,  and  far-fetched.'  No,  it 
is  not.  I  was  that  youth.  When  I  retired 
to  bed,  three  of  my  young  friends  were 
assembled  in  another  room,  wrestling  with 
God  for  my  conversion.  I  could  not 
sleep.  I  arose  and  went  into  them, 
and  asked  them  to  pray  for  my  soul.  I 
found  the  Saviour ;  and,  blessed  be  His 
name,  I  have  followed  Him  ever  since. 
My  companions  scoffed,  and  said  that  it 
would  soon  pass  away  ;  but  I  have  been 
kept.  I  have  tasted  all  the  pleasures  of 
life  in  other  days,  but  I  am  here  to  tes- 
tify that  the  love  of  Jesus  is  sweeter  than 
all.  Young  men,  don't  be  deceived ;  the 
pleasures  and  the  philosophies  of  this 
world  pass  away.  Take  Christ,  and  He 
will  satisfy  the  longing  soul."  Night  after 
night,  there  are  not  only  such  addresses, 
and  many  inquirers,  but  also  many  con- 
versions. 

I  had  intended  to  tell  you  a  little  about 
the  ministers'  meeting  for  prayer  and  con- 
ference, on  Wednesday,  at  which  about 
200  were  present,  of  all  denominations ; 
and  many  from  the  country.  But  this 
must  be  reserved ;  and  meanwhile  let  me 
entreat  every  reader  to  pray  for  a  baptism 
of  fire,  a  gift  of  "  Power"  (Acts  i.  8)  to 
every  minister  of  Christ  who  carries  Christ's 
message  to  the  Churches. 


II. 

Dr.  Bonar's  letters  bring  down  the  rec- 
ord to  March  13th.  The  noon-day  meet- 
ings and  those  for  the  children  continued 
to  be  maintained  with  unflagging  interest. 
On  the  13th  of  March  the  requests  for 
prayer  were  as  many  as  150  in  number. 
Sunday  morning,  the  15th  inst.,  Mr.  Moody 
delivered  his  lecture  on  Daniel  to  3,000 
young  men  assembled  in  the  City  Hall ; 
and  Mr.  Sankey  at  the  close  of  the  service 
sang  "  Daniel's  Band "  and  "  Hold  the 
Fort,"  with  the  strong  choruses,  in  which 
the  vast  assemblage  joined.  "  Evangelist 
Meetings  "  were  begun  in  the  eastern  dis- 
trict of  the  city  on  Sabbath  evening,  the 
15  th  inst.  On  Monday  there  was  another 
service,  when  it  was  determined  to  con- 
tinue the  meetings  in  the  same  church 
during  the  remaining  evenings  of  that 
week.  At  the  same  time  there  were  four 
evening  meetings  for  young  men,  under  the 
charge  of  other  workers,  going  on  in  differ- 


ent parts  of  the  city.  There  were  also 
ministers  meetings,  and  meetings  of  par- 
ents, with  meetings  of  the  Good  Templars 
and  meetings  held  by  the  Evangelists  in  sur- 
rounding districts.  On  the  30th  of  March 
they  were  present  at  the  daily  prayer- 
meeting  held  in  the  ship-building  yard  of 
Alex.  Stefters  &  Sons,  where  there  was  a 
large  attendance  of  the  workingmen,  the 
number  being  variously  estimated  from 
1,500  to  2,000.  All  the  partners  of  the 
firm  were  present.  On  the  5th  of  April 
a  praise  meeting  was  held  in  the  City 
Hall.  On  the  8th  and  9th  of  April  Mr. 
Sankey  and  Mr.  Moody  attended  the  noon 
prayer-meeting  held  in  the  Town  Hall  at 
Greenock  ;  and  on  the  i6th  there  was  a 
church  convention  on  the  revival  move- 
ment, which  was  largely  attended. 


III. 

The  Daily  Mail thns  sketches  the  work, 
of  the  revival  in  Glasgow,  its  agencies, 
and  results  : 

During  the  six  days  beginning  with 
Tuesday  of  last  week  the  suburb  of  Hill- 
head  was  nine  times  flooded  with  crowds 
hurrying  to  the  Crystal  Palace.  This 
unique  glass  house  is  the  largest  place  of 
public  assembly  in  Scotland,  and  can  seat 
about  four  thousand,  while  a  thousand 
or  two  more  may  be  crowded  into  it. 
Tuesday  evening  was  for  the  young  wo- 
men. Hundreds  appealed  in  vain  for 
tickets  after  7,500  had  been  distributed, 
and  hundreds  who  had  them  struggled 
in  vain  for  admission.  The  building  was 
crowded  up  to  the  fainting  point,  and  the 
meeting  was  partly  spoiled  by  its  numeri- 
cal success.  On  Wednesday  the  young 
men  who  were  ticket-holders,  darkened 
the  Great  Western  Road  more  than  an 
hour  before  the  time  of  meeting.  All 
comers  were  welcome  on  Thursday,  so 
long  as  there  was  a.iy  room.  In  spite  of 
the  rain  the  Palace  was  filled  by  seven 
o'clock,  and  about  one- half  of  the  audi- 
ence seemed  to  be  young  men  of  the 
middle  classes.  On  Friday  the  noon 
prayer-meeting  was  transferred  to  the 
Palace,  which  was  comfortably  filled  with 
the  better,  or  better-off  classes.  Friday 
evening's  meeting  was  the  most  signifi- 
cant of  the  series.  Tickets  for  it  were 
given  only  to  those  who,  on  applying  for 
them  in  person,  declared  that  they  be- 
lieved themselves  to  have  been  converted 


46 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL, 


since  January  ist,  and  gave  their  names 
addresses,  and  church  connection,  which 
information,  we  are  told,  is  to  be  for- 
warded to  their  several  pastors.  It  was 
publicly  stated  that  about  3,500  received 
tickets  on  these  conditions.  As  the 
Americans  did  not  arrive  till  six  weeks 
after  the  New  Year,  and  as  the  tickets 
were  -not  exclusively  for  the  frequenters 
of  their  meetings,  it  was  hardly  fair  in 
one  of  our  contemporaries  to  insinuate 
that  the  object  was  to  number  and  ticket 
Moody's  converts.  The  children  had 
their  turn  on  Saturday  at  noon,  and  the 
working  people  at  night.  On  Sunday 
morning  the  young  women  were  admitted 
by  ticket,  and  at  six  o'clock  p.  m.  the 
Palace  was  filled  both  inside  and  outside, 
as  an  Irishman  would  say.  While  several 
ministers,  along  with  Mr.  Sankey,  con- 
ducted the  service  inside,  Mr.  Moody 
addressed  a  crowd  in  the  open  air  that 
filled  the  whole  space  between  the  Palace 
and  the  gate  of  the  Botanic  Gardens. 
Many  hundreds  did  not  even  get  the 
length  of  the  garden  gate.  The  estimates 
of  the  vast  throng — mere  guess-work,  of 
course — range  from  15,000  to  30,000.  A 
month  ago,  in  the  same  place  and  under 
the  same  auspices,  another  meeting  was 
held  for  six  and  a-half  hours.  We  refer 
to  the  "  Christian  Convention,"  which 
Dr.  Cairns  declared  to  be  "  unparalleled  in 
the  history  of  the  Scotch,  perhaps  of  Brit- 
ish, Christianity."  It  was  reported  that 
about  5,000  were  present,  of  whom  some 
2,000  were  ministers  and  office-bearers 
from  Scotland  and  the  north  of  England. 
Now  these  are  conspicuous  facts,  and 
challenge  the  respectful  attention  and  sym- 
pathy of  all,  whatever  their  religious  views 
may  be,  were  it  on  no  higher  principle 
than  that  of  the  ancient  poet,  "  I  am  a 
man,  and  deem  nothing  human  uninterest- 
ing to  me."  Some  have  already  photo- 
graphed the  humorous  side  of  these  religi- 
ous assemblies,  and  proved  what,  we  dare 
say,  nobody  will  deny,  that  some  blemishes 
cleave  to  them.  We  are  persuaded,  how- 
ever, that  many  of  our  readers  will  not  be 
disinclined  to  look  at  the  higher  aspects  of 
"  these  wondrous  gatherings  day  by  day." 
For  we  are  not  aware  that  so  many  large 
and  representative  meetings  have  been 
drawn  together  in  Glasgow  within  six 
days  by  any  cause  or  interest  whatever 
during  the  present  century.  Here  is  a 
novel  addition  to  "  the  May  meetings  " — 
a  new  General  Assembly,  with  representa- 


tives of  almost  every  class  of  society  and 
every  Protestant  Church  in  the  land. 

The  religious  movement,  of  which 
these  meetings  are  the  most  outstanding 
manifestation,  dates,  so  far  as  it  met  the 
public  eye,  from  "  the  Aveek  of  prayer  " 
in  the  beginning  of  January.  The  minis- 
ters and  office-bearers  of  almost  all  the 
churches  then  met,  and  formed  a  com- 
mittee to  arrange  for  united  prayer-meet- 
ings, and  also  for  the  expected  visit  of 
the  American  Evangelists.  The  record 
of  what  was  going  on  in  the  north  of 
England,  and  especially  in  Edinburgh, 
had  previously  inflamed,  as  well  as  in- 
formed, many  of  the  more  receptive  and 
sympathetic  souls.  Tokens  of  growing 
interest  had  also  been  appearing  in  many 
quarters,  and  evangelistic  services,  such 
as  those  conducted  by  Mr.  Brownlow 
North  and  others,  had  indicated  that  the 
spiritual  thermometer  was  steadily  rising. 
During  the  first  week  of  January  St. 
George's  Church  was  crowded  at  noon, 
while  the  overflow  was  accommodated  in 
Hope  Street  Free  Gaelic  Church.  After 
the  first  fortnight  Wellington  Street  U.  P. 
Church  was  made  the  centre,  where,  on  an 
average,  about  a  thousand  met  daily  for 
prayer.  In  the  second  week  of  February 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  began  their 
work  among  us ;  and  for  the  last  three 
months  they  have  conducted  meetings 
every  day,  with  a  few  exceptions.  The 
mind  experiences  a  sense  of  fatigue  in  de- 
tailing their  efforts.  They  certainly  have 
not  spared  themselves.  Here  is  some- 
thing like  an  average  week-day's  work — 
12  to  I  o'clock,  prayer-meeting;  i  to  2 
o'clock,  conversation  with  individuals ;  4 
to  5  o'clock,  Bible  lecture,  attended  by 
some  1,200  or  1,500;  7  to  8:30  o'clock, 
evangelistic  meeting,  with  inquiry  meeting 
at  close ;  9  to  10  o'clock,  young  men's 
meeting.  The  tale  of  some  Sabbath-day's 
work  is  even  heavier :  9  to  10  o'clock, 
City  Hall;  11  to  12:30  o'clock,  a  church 
service;  5  to  7  o'clock,  women's;  7  to  9 
o'clock,  men's  meetings  in  City  Hall.  Very 
few  men  possess,  or  at  least  exercise  such 
powers  of  service;  though,  in  addition  to 
the  aid  from  the  realm  beyond  on  which 
true  workers  rely,  we  doubt  not  that  con 
genial  and  successful  Christian  work  may 
sustain  a  man  beyond  any  other  form  of 
human  effort.  Admission  to  these  meet- 
ings was  usually  by  ticket — a  necessary 
precaution  against  perilous  overcrowding. 
The  animated  scenes  of  last  week  in  the 


GLASGOW. 


47 


Botanic  Gardens  prove  that  the  interest 
has  not  waned,  even  after  three  months 
use  and  wont  had  worn  off  the  edge  of 
novelty. 

Accepting  this  as  a  genuine  Christian 
work,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  fix  atten- 
tion on  some  of  its  leading  characteris- 
tics and  results.  We  would  say  here,  in 
passing,  that  we  cannot  well  understand 
why  some  educated  minds,  without  grant- 
ing a  hearing,  condemn  religious  revivals 
out  and  out  on  philosophical  grounds. 
Viewed  on  the  human  side,  the  philos- 
ophy of  revivals,  as  they  term  it,  is  just 
a  department  of  the  philosophy  of  his- 
tory. In  no  region  has  progress  been 
uniformly  steady  and  gradual ;  but  it  has 
been  now  and  then  by  great  strides,  by 
fits  and  starts,  and  such  events  as  the 
Germans  call  epoch-making.  In  all  the 
affairs  of  men  there  have  been  tides  with 
full  floods.  Every  channel  along  which 
human  energies  pour  themselves  has 
had  its  "  freshets."  We  are  all  familiar 
with  revivals  in  trade,  science,  literature, 
arts,  and  politics.  Times  of  refreshing 
and  visitation  are  not  much  more  frequent 
in  sacred  than  in  secular  history;  and  they 
indicate  the  most  interesting  and  fruitful 
periods  in  both. 

To  say  that  the  work  betrays  some  im- 
perfections, and  that  there  have  been  many 
objectors,  is  only  to  say  what  has  been 
justly  said  of  every  great  enterprise,  civil 
and  religious.  But  this  revival  seems  to 
be  distinguished  from  all  previous  revivals 
by  the  circumstance  that  it  has  been  en- 
dorsed by  something  like  the  Catholic 
consent  of  the  churches.  From  the  out- 
set, nearly  all  our  leading  ministers,  and 
not  a  few  of  our  foremost  laymen,  identi- 
fied themselves  with  it.  They  sat  and 
sang  together  on  the  pulpit  stairs  and 
platform  at  the  daily  prayer-meeting.  A 
Highland  member  of  the  Free  Church 
Presbytery  lately  protested  against  some 
of  the  accompaniments;  and  in  a  court 
that  numbers  about  150  members,  there 
was  not  one  to  second  his  lament.  One 
of  our  most  conservative  churches — the 
Reformed  Presbyterian — gave  its  unani- 
mous and  cordial  approval  the  other  day 
at  its  Synod. 

The  unfriendly  letter-writers  fall  into 
two  classes.  Some  sign  themselves  clergy- 
men, and  are  much  exorcised  about  their 
clerical  status.  If  any  in  these  days  will 
make  it  their  chief  concern  to  stand  upon 
their  official  dignity    they  shall  find  by- 


and-by  that  they  have  not  much  ground  to 
stand  upon.  No  evangelists,  however, 
have  come  among  us  who  have  more  re- 
spected the  position  and  influence  of  the 
ministers.  Mr.  Moody's  first  statement  at 
his  first  meeting  in  the  City  Hall  was,  that 
he  met  with  the  Sabbath-school  teachers 
first,  because  he  knew  that  no  class  would 
welcome  him  more  heartily,  with  the  single 
exception  of  the  ministers,  and  that  it 
would  be  presumption  in  him  to  lecture 
them.  The  other  class  of  unfriendly 
critics  write  in  the  interest  of  intellectual- 
ism  and  culture  in  its  "  broadest  "  sense. 
We  suspect  that  the  "  sages,"  whose  pro- 
fession is,  as  one  of  themselves  has  said, 
that  they  are  neither  great  sinners  nor 
great  saints,  are  the  enemies  of  revivals 
only  because  they  are  the  enemies  of  the 
things  revived.  Would  they  object,  for 
instance,  to  a  revival  that  gave  body  and 
popular  attractions  to  the  worn-out  ideas 
which  they  commend  as  the  fie  plus  ultra 
of  attainable  truth .?  At  all  events,  it  will 
not  do  for  them  to  say  that  only  the  wo- 
men and  the  children  have  been  attracted, 
for  there  has  been  nightly  a  most  impos- 
ing muster  of  the  vigorous  manhood  of  our 
city,  and  the  City  Hall  has  been  often 
found  too  small  to  accommodate  the  men 
who  flocked  to  some  of  the  special  services. 
Mr.  Moody  is  very  fortunate  in  having 
such  a  colleague  as  Mr.  Sankey.  He  has 
enriched  evangelistic  work  by  something 
approaching  the  discovery  of  a  new  power. 
He  spoils  the  Egyptians  of  their  finest 
music,  and  consecrates  it  to  the  service 
of  the  Tabernacle.  Music  in  his  hands 
is,  more  than  it  has  yet  been,  the  hand- 
maid of  the  gospel,  and'  the  voice  of  the 
heart.  We  have  seen  many  stirred  and 
melted  by  his  singing  before  a  word  had 
been  spoken.  Indeed,  his  singing  is  just 
a  powerful,  distinct,  and  heart-toned 
way  of  speaking,  that  seems  often  to 
reach  the  heart  by  a  short  cut,  when 
mere  speaking  might  lose  the  road. 
Most  people  admit  that  the  work  has 
been  conducted  in  a  very  calm  and  sober- 
minded  fashion.  Mr.  Moody  is  credited 
with  a  large  share  of  shrewdness  and 
common  sense.  He  has  not  yielded  to 
the  temptations  that  powerfully  assail 
his  class.  He  does  not  give  himself  out 
to  be  coddled  and  petted  by  well-mean- 
ing, but  injudicious  admirers.  We  have 
not  noticed  in  him  that  offensive  affecta- 
tion of  superior  piety  that  provoked  a 
sarcastic  acquaintance  of  ours  to  say  thai 


4S 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


some  revivalists  seemed  to  begin  their 
story  as  Virgil  makes  ^neas  begin  his 
— "  I  am  the  pious  ^neas."  He  keeps 
close  to  the  essentials,  and  is  free  from 
such  crotchets  as  often  narrow  the  sphere 
and  destroy  the  influence  of  evangelists. 
It  is  not  irritation  but  balm  that  he  tries 
to  bring  to  our  religious  divisions.  It 
must  be  owned  that  a  premium  has  not 
been  set  on  the  hysterical,  the  convulsive, 
and  the  sensational  forms  of  religious 
excitement.  The  proverbial  weakness 
for  numbers  has  been  more  apparent  in 
some  of  his  sympathizers  than  in  him- 
self. Nor  does  he  make  himself  respon- 
sible for  the  reality  of  every  apparent 
conversion.  He  has  set  his  face  sternly 
against  the  religious  dissipation  in  which 
some  of  his  most  indefatigable  hearers 
rejoice.  Novelty-hunters  and  marvel- 
mongers  have  not  been  gratified.  Sight- 
seers have  been  usually  excluded  from 
the  meetings  for  inquirers,  and  only 
"  w^orkers  "  have  been  admitted.  That 
there  has  been  nothing  necessarily  re- 
pellant  to  thoughtful  and  educated  people 
is  proved  by  the  number  of  middle-class 
young  men  in  sympathy,  and  by  the  fair 
proportion  of  them  at  the  "  Converts' 
Meeting,"  and  also  by  the  crowds  of 
genteel  people  at  the  quiet  afternoon 
Bible  lectures.  Though  he  has  intro- 
duced some  novel  methods,  he  has  stuck 
to  the  simple  old  truths,  and  his  convic- 
tions are  in  entire  accord  with  Scottish 
orthodoxy.  His  straightforward,  busi- 
ness-like, slap-dash  style  gives  a  fascinat- 
ing air  of  reality  to  all  he  says,  while 
his  humor,  capital  hits,  vivid  and 
homely  illustrations,  and  now  and  again 
his  deep  feeling,  seldom  fail  to  rivet 
the  attention  of  his  hearers.  He  has 
not  a  round-about  and  far-off  way  of 
handling  divine  things,  and  hence  many 
accuse  him  of  abruptness,  brusqueness,  and 
undue  familiarity.  The  Christian  life  he 
commends  is  manly  and  genial,  intense, 
and  yet  not  strained  or  twisted.  These 
features  go  far  to  explain  what  would  be 
called  in  America  his  personal  magnetism. 
Many  ask,  "  But  will  it  last?  What  is  to 
come  out  of  all  this  .'"  In  Edinburgh,  they 
say  that  since  the  Americans  left  the  im- 
pression has  been  steadily  increasing,  and 
that  it  has  entered  influential  spheres  al- 
most untouched  before.  The  summer- 
scatterings  will  severely  test  the  reality  of 
the  movement,  but  perhaps  they  may  also 
scatter  a  share  of  the  stimulus  along  both 


sides  of  the  Clyde.  The  avowed  end  from 
the  first  has  been  that  the  ordinary  con- 
gregational channels  might  be  flushed  and 
flooded  with  fresh  energy.  Such  extraor- 
dinary efforts  are  most  successful,  though 
their  success  is  less  apparent  when  they 
add  new  power  to  ordinary  agencies.  If 
this  be  the  result,  the  friends  of  the  move- 
ment will  have  no  cause  for  disappoint- 
ment, while  its  enemies  will  point  to  the 
absence  of  demonstrative  accompaniments 
as  a  proof  that  it  has  entirely  collapsed. 

We  may  expect  that  something  will  be 
gained  from  the  experience  of  the  past 
months.  New  methods  of  conducting 
meetings  are  already  finding  favor.  Some 
may  be  in  danger  of  surrendering  hastily 
their  individuality,  and  adopting  modes  of 
speech  and  action  foreign  to  them.  We 
may  easily  ascribe  too  much  to  the  new 
methods  of  the  American  Evangelists. 
Their  success  is  due  largely  to  the  fact 
that  they  approached  the  Scottish  churches 
on  the  side  on  which  they  are  weakest.  It 
would  seem  that  Scottish  styles  are  about 
as  popular  in  America  as  American  styles 
have  proved  in  Scotland,  and  for  the  very 
same  reason.  At  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
in  New  York  the  speakers  from  our 
country  were  most  appreciated,  because 
they  were  strong  where  Americans  felt 
themselves  to  be  weak.  The  career  of  Dr. 
Hall  in  New  York  is  also  a  notable  case  in 
point.  By  all  means  let  us  have  more 
elasticity,  and  a  greater  readiness  to  adopt 
and  adapt  whatever  is  serviceable.  But 
after  all,  new  methods  will  not  help  the 
churches  a  great  deal.  The  surprise  and 
force  of  contrast  soon  wear  off;  and  if  men 
go  too  far  for  a  little  in  any  direction,  they 
take  their  revenge  in  abandoning  what 
formerly  they  over-praised.  Age  and 
repetition  by-and-by  make  the  most  skill- 
ful methods  dull  and  conventional.  The 
grand  need  is  far  deeper — an  inward 
vitality  that  makes  men  and  churches 
fresh,  various,  and  fruitful.  If,  as  we 
are  told,  multitudes  in  all  the  churches 
have  been  recently  quickened,  new 
bottles  should  be  made,  as  well  as  bor- 
rowed for  the  new  wine. 

Some  confidently  expect  a  more  general 
cooperation  of  Christians  than  has  hith- 
erto prevailed.  Dr.  James  Hamilton's 
quaint  illustration  has  been  so  far  verified. 
When  the  tide  is  out,  each  shrimp  has  a 
little  pool  of  salt  water,  which  is  to  him  all 
the  ocean  for  the  time  being.  But  when 
the  rising  ocean  begins  to  lip  over  the  mar- 


GLASGO  W. 


49 


gin  of  his  lurking  place,  one  pool  joins  an- 
other, their  various  tenants  meet  and  min- 
gle, and  soon  they  have  ocean's  boundless 
fields  to  roam  in.  It  will  be  a  pity  if  an 
ebbing  tide  carries  each  back  to  his  little 
narrow  pool. 

The  relation  of  this  work  to  the  masses 
has  been  much  discussed.  Those  who 
blame  Mr.  Moody  for  not  working  among 
them  should  remember  that  the  tickets  for 
all  the  meetings  were  distributed  by  the 
ministers  of  each  district,  and  that  in  some 
cases  the  non-church-going  had  the  pref- 
erence. Recent  speeches  in  Presbyteries 
and  Synods  show  that  many  are  anxious  to 
give  a  home  mission  direction  to  the  move- 
ment. Quickened  life  in  presence  of  neg- 
lected multitudes  must  approve  its  sincer- 
ity by  zealous  mission  work.  We  hear 
that  the  committee  have  already  purchased 
a  monster  tent,  capable  of  holding  2,000, 
and  that  it  will  soon  be  one  of  their  chief 
rallying  points.  The  young  ladies  of  the 
choir,  who  give  invaluable  aid,  are  likely, 
it  is  said,  to  continue  at  their  post.  This 
would  be  a  very  graceful  and  telling  way 
of  bringing  together  the  East  and  West 
End.  Hundreds  of  young  ladies  with 
splendid  voices  and  an  expensive  musical 
education  might  thus  find  a  grateful  relief 
from  ennui,  and  a  healthful  substitute  for 
other  excitements.  The  work  among  the 
masses  gives  them  a  fine  opportunity  of 
gaining  a  recompense  for  all  the  trouble 
and  cost  by  which  they  have  become 
gifted  musicians.  It  will  be  a  new  power 
to  them,  and  to  many  preachers  who  can 
appreciate  such  cooperation.  Even  if  we 
accept  the  estimates  of  the  most  sanguine 
— if  we  admit  that  thousands  have  been 
deeply  stirred — if  we  grant  that  many  of 
the  best  fruits  of  this  work  would  not  care 
to  ask  tickets  for  Friday  night's  meeting, 
and  if  we  thus  double  or  quadruple  the 
numbers  present,  we  shall  then  have  only 
one  or  two  per  cent,  of  our  population  who 
are  reported  to  have  come  decidedly  under 
the  influence  of  the  movement,  while  the 
lowest  classes  have  hardly  been  touched  by 
it.  Now,  authorized  reports  speak  of  some 
outlandish  parishes  where  one-tenth,  and 
even  as  many  as  one-third,  of  the  inhabit- 
ants have  been  deeply  impressed.  That 
is  to  say,  in  some  out-of-the-way  places  the 
apparent  results  have  been  ten  or  twenty 
times  greater  than  in  Glasgow.  The  friends 
of  this  work  have,  therefore,  reason  for 
hoping  that — to  use  the  words  of  one  of 
their  favorite  hymns — "  still  there 's  more 
to  follow." 


IV. 

THE   FAREWELL   MEETINGS   IN 
GLASGOW. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  instrumen- 
tality of  Mr.  Moody  has  been  greatly 
blessed  to  many  in  Glasgow  during  the 
past  months.  God  often  chooses  for  His 
purposes  the  weak  things  of  the  earth, 
but  He  as  often  takes  men  of  great 
natural  gifts,  and  uses  them  powerfully 
to  impress  others.  Mr.  Moody  belongs 
to  the  latter  class ;  he  is  possessed  of 
great  ability  and  tact,  and  of  a  most  re- 
markable capacity  for  work.  He  has 
also  great  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  is  so  evidently  in  earnest,  believing 
he  has  God's  commission  to  speak,  that 
his  power  is  above  that  of  most  men. 
Mr.  Sankey  has  the  same  genuine  ring, 
and  by  the  judicious  use  of  music  has 
attracted  many ;  but  the  power  to  keep 
them  has  mainly  been  given  to  his  fellow- 
worker. 

Many  who  have  remarked  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  revival  have  directed  their  ob- 
servations towards  our  American  brethren 
alone.  They  have  doubtless  been  as  the 
mainspring  of  the  movement,  used  by 
God  for  that  purpose,  but  all  the  other 
parts  have  also  been  in  operation,  many 
clergymen  and  laymen  carrying  on  simul- 
taneous work. 

The  last  week  has  been  a  most  impress- 
ive one  ;  the  interest  may  be  said  to  have 
culminated  in  the  assemblages  in  the 
Kibble  Palace.  On  Tuesday  evening,  the 
1 2th  current,  a  great  meeting  of  women 
took  place  there ;  all  classes  and  ages 
were  largely  represented,  and  the  bearing 
of  the  majority  was  most  devout.  Al- 
though upwards  of  five  thousand  were 
accommodated  within  the  building,  the 
issue  of  tickets  had  been  so  liberal  that 
nearly  two  thousand  more  could  not  gain 
admittance,  and  were  addressed  on  the 
green  outside  by  various  clergymen.  Even 
among  those  who  could  hear  nothing  the 
greatest  good  humor  prevailed.  It  was 
noticeable  that  many  stood  round  the 
closed  doors,  where  they  could  neither 
hear  nor  see,  preferring  not  to  listen  to 
the  other  preachers,  as  they  had  come  in 
their  thousands,  attracted  by  the  fame  of 
"  Moody  and  Sankey." 

On  Wednesday  night,  upwards  of  seven 
thousand  men  managed  to  find  sitting  and 
standing  room  within  the  Palace,  packing 
exceedingly  close.     The  vast  assemblage 


so 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


was  most  decorous,  and  obeyed  orders 
implicitly.  The  full,  strong  singing  of  the 
hymns  was  a  sound  to  be  remembered. 
Numbers  of  inquirers  gathered  afterwards 
in  the  opposite  church,  and  many  could 
state  that  there  was  a  good  result  of  that 
night's  work. 

Admission  to  these  two  meetings  had 
been  exclusively  by  ticket;  but  on  Thurs- 
day night  the  Palace  was  open  to  all,  so 
that  the  doors  had  to  be  shut,  leaving  large 
numbers  outside.  The  meetings  through- 
out were  conducted  in  the  usual  vigorous 
style,  Mr.  Moody  being  president,  and  de- 
livering pointed  addresses — clergymen  and 
laymen  relating  their  own  experiences,  and 
bringing  forward  instances  and  reports  of 
the  work  elsewhere. 

On  Friday  evening  came  the  meeting 
for  those  who  professed  to  have  been  con- 
verted during  the  last  few  months.  The 
tickets  for  this  had  only  been  given  to 
those  who  placed  their  names  and  address- 
es, and  the  name  of  their  minister,  on  a 
Register  opened  for  the  purpose  ;  and  of 
which  they  were  informed,  extracts  would 
be  forwarded  to  the  clergymen  to  whose 
j  churches  they  belonged,  thus  to  prevent 
'  thoughtless  application  for  converts'  tick- 
.  ets,  an  ultimate  check  being  established. 
I  The  Palace  was  comfortably  filled,  and  the 
.  utmost  order  prevailed.  In  looking  over 
the  assemblage,  it  was  apparent  that  the 
great  proportion  consisted  of  young  peo- 
ple, probably  under  twenty-five  years  of 
age.  There  was  a  preponderance  of  fe- 
males, about  in  the  proportion  of  three  to 
two.  All  were  well-dressed,  clear-eyed 
people,  in  the  ring  of  whose  voices,  when 
singing  the  opening  hymn  of  praise,  more 
than  the  common  sound  was  heard.  It 
was  a  glorious  sight.  Some,  no  doubt, 
may  have  joined  that  throng  without  due 
warrant ;  but  with  such  exceptions,  each 
individual  had  found  his  title  clearly  writ- 
ten in  the  Word  of  his  Lord  and  Master. 
One  instance  came  within  our  knowledge 
of  two  ladies  who,  receiving  tickets  under 
a  misapprehension,  personally  came  to  de- 
liver them  up.  This  was  the  more  honor- 
able, as  many  would  have  entered  by  any 
means  in  their  power,  had  the  Register  not 
stood  in  the  way.  An  instance,  indeed, 
occurred  of  one  old  lady,  who,  having  made 
up  her  mind  to  enter,  would  take  no  denial, 
and  indignantly  gave  the  peculiar  reason 
for  insistence,  that  she  was  well  known  to 
the  best  people  of  the  West  End,  and  to 
the  magistrates  of  the  city  and  county. 


On  Saturday  came  the  meeting  for  chil- 
dren, and  in  the  evening  another  for  grown 
people ;  but  the  greatest  gathering  of  the 
week  took  place  on  the  Sabbath,  when,  af- 
ter a  meeting  in  the  morning  for  women 
who  had  not  obtained  admittance  on  the 
previous  Tuesday,  the  gates  were  thrown 
open  in  the  afternoon  to  all  comers.  Such  a 
crowd  came  as  had  never  been  seen  in  these 
parts  before.  Many  a  time  during  the  week 
the  Great  Western  Road  had  been  darkened 
for  an  hour  and  a  half  with  the  living  stream, 
but  that  night  for  three  hours  the  stream 
was  incessant.  Vehicles  were  not  easily 
to  be  had  on  Sunday,  so  nearly  all  came 
on  foot — all  classes,  "  gentle  and  simple," 
young  and  old,  blind  and  lame.  The 
Palace  was  immediately  filled,  but  the 
afternoon  sun  was  so  hot  there  that  soon 
the  whole  had  to  turn  out  on  the  green  ; 
there  a  crowd,  variously  estimated  at  from 
twenty  to  thirty  thousand,  was  soon  gath- 
ered. Some  apprehension  was  enter- 
tained that  mishaps  might  ensue  inside  or 
outside  the  building;  but  by  the  exercise 
of  considerable  firmness,  and  compliance  • 
with  orders  on  the  part  of  the  people,  the 
danger  was  happily  averted.  Mr.  Moody 
addressed  the  crowd  standing  on  the  box 
of  a  private  carriage,  and  by  those  within 
comfortable  earshot  he  was  considered  to 
have  surpassed  himself  in  earnestness  and 
force.  The  singing  of  the  sweet  hymns 
by  such  a  strength  of  voices,  sounding 
upon  that  quiet  sunny  Sabbath  evening 
from  amid  the  fresh  foilage  of  the  gardens, 
was  deeply  impressive.  Such  a  sight,  too, 
had  probably  never  before  been  seen  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  land.  While  the  main 
body  dispersed,  filling  all  the  approaches 
and  the  public  roads,  about  five  thousand 
Christians,  and  those  professedly  anxious 
about  their  own  state,  gathered  inside  the 
Palace,  and  for  the  last  time  heard  the 
voice  of  the  man  for  whom  such  an  affec- 
tion has  sprung  up  in  the  hearts  of  many. 
The  scene  was  impressive  when  an  Eng- 
lish speaker,  with  rapid  and  energetic  ut- 
terance, reminded  the  assemblage,  many 
of  whom  had  the  greatest  cause  to  thank 
God  for  all  He  had  recently  done  for  and 
by  them,  that  that  man  (Mr.  Moody)  ought 
to  be  constantly  remembered  in  the  pray- 
ers of  all  to  whom  he  had  proved  an  in- 
strument of  grace.  Many  were  much 
moved.  Mr.  Moody  then  took  a  farewell 
of  the  people,  most  of  whom  he  could  never 
hope  to  see  again  in  the  body,  and  as  a  final 
message    declared    that    many   Christian 


PAISLEY  AND  GREENOCK. 


51 


friends  in  that  place  and  elsewhere  had 
agreed  to  unite  in  prayer  that  night  for 
those  then  gathered  together  who  might 
be  anxious  about  their  own  state,  conscious 
they  were  not  saved.  The  twilight  was 
rapidly  deepening  when  he  asked  those  in 
such  a  case  to  rise  to  their  feet  in  sign  of 
their  desire.  The  solemnity  of  feeling  was 
indeed  deep  when  from  four  to  five  hun- 
dred persons  quietly  rose  all  over  the  house, 
and  as  quietly  resumed  their  places,  ac- 
tuated, evidently,  by  something  outside 
their  ordinary  lives. 

Was  not  that  something  like  the  Spirit 
of  God  1  We  shall,  perhaps,  never  know 
here ;  but  when  from  among  the  ranks  of 
those  who  have  felt  His  power  we  find  men 
and  women  quietly  affirming  to  friends  and 
strangers  the  inner  change  which  has  been 
wrought  in  them,  and  then  going  out  to 
work  for  Him;  when  we  find  this  wide- 
spread, and  representatives  of  all  classes 
among  the  believers,  have  we  any  right 
further  to  question  that  God  has  been 
working,  and  will  continue  to  work,  in 
men's  hearts  powerfully .?  Be  the  instru- 
ments who  they  may,  are  they  not  of  God's 
choosing .?  Some  of  his  own  servants  may 
have  been  kept  from  joining  in  the  work 
of  promoting  the  awakening  ;  but  now  that 
the  first  instruments  of  this  general  awak- 


ening have  left  us,  it  must  be,  it  is,  the 
sacred  duty  of  all  the  stated  ministers  in 
the  field,  to  take  up  the  work  where  it  now 
stands,  and  to  carry  it  on ;  thankful  and 
joyful  in  the  fresh  vigor  infused  into  the 
spiritual  life  of  many,  and  jealous  only  for 
the  extension  of  the  Master's  kingdom.  It 
is  our  duty  now  to  consider  Avhether,  in 
much  of  our  gospel  teaching,  we  have  not, 
by  our  own  default,  been  beating  the  air, 
preaching  above  and  beyond  our  hearers, 
clothing  the  simple  lessons  of  God's  Word 
in  such  conventional  language  as  to  be  un- 
intelligible even  to  the  educated ;  how 
much  more  so  to  the  illiterate.  Laymen 
have  become  alive  to  the  power  they  pos- 
sess when  filled  with  love  to  the  Master,  to 
tell  in  plain  language  of  a  risen  Redeemer, 
and  to  impress  and  convince  their  fellows, 
so  that  many  have  been  forced  to  exclaim 
in  wonderment  when  the  central  truth  of 
the  gospel  has  burst  upon  them,  "  Is  this 
all .''  is  this  the  divine  but  simple  truth  I 
have  missed  for  so  many  years  "i  Our 
teachers  might  have  made  this  plain  long 
ago." 

Blessed  time  when  the  mists  are  breaking, 
When  men  are  awakening  !  Ours  be  it  to 
Help,  not  to  hinder,  God's  harvest. 

A.  S.  D.  C. 


THE  Vv^ORK   IN    PAISLEY  AND    GREENOCK, 


MESSRS.    MOODY    AND    SANKEY 
IN    PAISLEY. 

The  visit  of  these  American  evangel- 
ists to  Paisley,  long  looked  for,  took  place 
in  April,  and  has  been  attended  with 
great  success-  It  was  arranged  that 
mid-day  services  should  take  place  each 
day  in  the  Oakshaw  Street  U.  P.  Church, 
and  at  the  service  there  on  Wednesday 
evening  Mr.  Moody  was  present.  The 
church  was  crowded  to  welcome  him. 
Mr.  Moody  presided,  and  was  supported 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lees,  of  the  Abbey,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  France,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomson, 
and  nearly  every  other  minister  in  Pais- 
ley. After  one  of  Mr.  Sankey's  hymns 
had  been  sung,  prayer  was  offered  up  by 
Mr.  Moody,  who  afterwards  read  the  5th 
chapter  of  St.  Luke,  and  eloquently  ex- 
pounded  the    gospel    therein   contained. 


Thereafter  addresses  were  delivered  on 
certain  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
prayers  were  offered  up  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Thomson,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  France, 
Hutton,  Dodds,  Crouch,  and  Sturrock. 
Other  hymns  from  the  collection  used  by 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were  sung, 
and  the  service  closed  with  the  benedic- 
tion. In  the  afternoon,  the  venerable 
Abbey  was  filled  with  a  highly  respect- 
able audience  to  hear  a  Bible  lecture  from 
Mr.  Moody,  and  his  devout  manner  of 
elucidating  certain  passages  of  Scripture 
seemed  to  impress  his  hearers  in  no  or- 
dinary manner.  In  the  evening  Mr. 
Moody  made  a  third  appearance  at  the 
Free  High  Church,  the  largest  church  in 
Paisley,  and  there  could  not  be  fewer  than 
two  thousand  people  present.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  services,  which  were  of 
a  most  impressive  character,  there  remaia- 


52 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ed  about  one  hundred  persons,  who  ex- 
pressed tlieir  anxiety  to  inquire  further 
into  the  Scriptures. 

On  Thursday  at  mid-day  Mr.  Sankey 
was  present  at  the  Oakshaw  Street  U.  P. 
Church,  which  was,  if  possible,  even  more 
crowded  than  on  the  previous  day,  the 
staircases  and  passages  being  filled.  '  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Clazy  presided,  and  was  largely 
supported  by  ministers  of  various  denom- 
inations. Mr.  Sankey  presided  at  the 
organ,  and  during  a  very  beautiful  service 
sang  a  number  of  his  hymns,  which  were 
listened  to  with  great  attentiveness  and 
reverence,  and  a  large  number  of  people 
appeared  considerably  moved  by  the  pa- 
thetic rendering  of  such  choice  words.  In 
the  evening  Mr.  Sankey  was  at  the  Free 
High  Church,  w^hich  was  again  crowded 
long  before  the  service.  It  was  then  an- 
nounced that  another  service  would  be 
held  simultaneously  in  Free  St.  George's 
Church,  and  as  soon  as  the  church  could 
be  lighted  and  prepared,  it  was  filled  in 
every  available  space.  Mr.  Sankey  divid- 
ed his  attention  between  the  two  services, 
and  sang  several  of  his  hymns  to  the  great 
delight  of  the  separate  congregations. 

An  esteemed  brother,  writing  from  Pais- 
ley on  Tuesday,  14th  inst.,  says  :  "  For  two 
months  past,  a  daily  prayer-meeting,  twice  a 
week  evening  evangelistic  services,  and  a 
series  ofSabbath  evening  services,have  been 
held  in  Paisley,  under  the  conduct  of  a  com- 
mittee of  the  ministers  of  various  denomi- 
nations, embracing  the  great  majority  of 
the  ministers  in  town.  The  Sabbath 
evening  joint  services  have  been  crowded 
by  earnest  audiences,  and  many  of  the 
other  meetings  have  been  largely  attended. 
The  visit  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey, 
for  three  days  last  week,  was  the  occasion 
of  overflowing  meetings  and  general  stir 
in  the  comrnunity.  On  the  night  of  Mr. 
Sankey's  attendance,  a  second  church  was 
opened,  which  fie  visited,  and  a  third 
might  have  been  filled  with  the  dissapoint- 
ed  crowds.  The  addresses  of  Mr.  Moody 
at  the  noon  meetings,  Bible  lectures,  even- 
ing services,  and  in  the  inquiry  rooms,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Sankey's  evangelistic  singing 
and  simple,  heartfelt  utterances,  were  at- 
tended by  a  large  amount  of  visible  im- 
pression. The  inquiry,  or  after  meetings, 
were  scenes  of  great  interest.  On  the 
three  several  nights,  especially  on  the  last 
of  Mr.  Moody's  striking  and  earnest  ap- 
peals, large  numbers  remained  behind, 
many  under  strong  emotion,  desiring  to 


be  conversed  with  by  Mr.  Moody,  the 
ministers,  and  other  approved  friends  who 
stayed  for  this  purpose.  Several  hundreds 
probably  were  conversed  with  from  first  to 
last  individually,  or  in  small  private  groups, 
over  the  great  area  of  the  Free  High 
Church,  where  the  meetings  were  held. 
Many  of  these  professed,  and  seemed  to 
have  received  light  and  quickening.  In 
private  life,  and  within  the  circle  of  private 
ministerial  observation,  not  a  few  of  these 
have  been  noted  as  the  apparent  subjects 
of  important  change.  The  interest  seems 
to  widen,  and  measures  are  being  taken 
by  the  ministers  to  cope  with  the  growing 
spirit  of  inquiry.  .One  pleasing  feature  of 
the  case  is,  the  impression  abroad  among 
the  young.  Naturally  there  are  criticisms 
and  hesitancies  with  some  as  to  the  con- 
duct and  tendency  of  the  movement,  but 
these  are  neither  numerous  nor  formidable. 
The  marked  approval  of  the  fathers  and 
leading  ministers  of  the  various  denomina- 
tions, and  their  personal  superintendence, 
and  happy  joint  action  at  all  meetings, 
combined  with  the  unassuming  manner 
and  quiet  earnestness  of  the  American 
strangers,  has  prepossessed  and  assured 
the  mind  of  the  religious  public. 

A  new  visit  of  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  this  week  is  likely  to  give  fresh 
impetus  to  a  good  and  great  work,  which, 
it  must  be  the  prayer  of  all  who  have 
closely  witnessed  it,  nothing  may  arise  to 
mar. 

Wednesday^  April  15. — The  former  visit 
of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  last  week 
to  Paisley,  produced  such  a  deep  impres- 
sion that  the  evangelists  were  induced  to 
return  this  week.  On  Tuesday  Mr.  Moody 
was  present  at  the  afternoon  service  in  the 
Free  High  Church,  and  from  the  crowded 
attendance  it  was  evident  that  the  interest 
had  not  in  the  least  abated.  As  on  the 
previous  occasions,  Mr.  Moody  was  sup- 
ported by  a  large  number  of  the  ministers 
of  various  denominations  in  town,  several 
of  whom  also  took  part  in  the  service.  In 
the  evening  another  service  was  held  in 
the  same  church,  at  which  Mr.  Moody  was 
also  present,  and  delivered,  if  possible, 
even  a  more  forcible  address  than  any  of 
those  he  had  previously  given.  The 
whole  service  seemed  to  result  in  awaken- 
ing an  interest  so  manifest,  that  at  its 
close  there  could  not  be  fewer  than  be- 
tween 400  and  500  persons  remaining  to 
enter  into  conversation  and  inquiry  with 
the  evangelists.     The  good  that  has  been 


PAISLEY  AND  GREENOCK. 


IZ 


done  is  apparent  in  many  instances,  and 
not  a  few  who  were  prejudiced  be- 
fore to  the  movement  have  readily  come 
forward,  and  now  support  it  with  all  their 
power.  It  has  been  resolved  to  hold 
meetings  each  evening  this  week  in  Pais- 
ley, in  addition  to  the  mid-day  services. 
On  Sabbath  Mr.  Moody  will  return, 
and  will  devote  nearly  his  whole  time  at 
services  to  be  held  in  the  town.  It  has 
been  arranged  that  there  shall  be  three 
special  services.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  he  will  meet  with  a  number  of 
young  men  in  the  Free  High  Church,  and 
at  other  times  in  the  day  he  will  be  pres- 
ent at  Free  St.  George's  Church,  and  at 
Oakshaw  Street  U.  P.  Church. 

Following  up  the  return  visit  of  Mr. 
Moody,  Mr.  Sankey  was  present  at  several 
services  in  Paisley  on  Wednesday.  In  the 
evening  a  service  was  held  in  the  Free  High 
Church,  and  overflow  meetings  in  Free  St. 
George's  Church  and  Oakshaw  Street  U. 
P.  Church.  Mr.  Sankey  was  present  at 
each,  and  there  were  crowded  congrega- 
tions. There  is  no  doubt  that  the  move- 
ment has  made  considerable  progress  in 
Paisley,  and  has  awakened  many  to  religion 
and  study  of  the  Scriptures  who  hitherto 
paid  little  regard  for  either.  At  the  close 
of  the  meetings,  on  Wednesday,  15  th, 
large  numbers  of  inquirers  remained  for 
conversation  with  the  evangelist,  and  were 
in  conference  till  a  very  late  hour.  A 
wish  has  been  expressed  that  both  Mr. 
Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  might  visit  Pais- 
ley together,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  re- 
sult would  be  an  ample  reward. 


VISIT    OF    MESSRS.    MOODY   AND 
SANKEY   TO   GREENOCK. 

Astonishing  results  have  attended  the 
visit  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  to 
Greenock.  At  the  usual  mid-day  prayer- 
meeting,  the  Town  Hall  has  been  quite 
crowded  ;  while  at  the  evening  evangelistic 
services,  several  churches  have  had  to  be 
opened  to  accommodate  the  overflow.  At 
the  close  of  all  the  services,  numbers  of 
anxious  inquirers  have  remained  to  be 
spoken  to,  and  a  special  corps  of  ministers 
has  been  told  off  for  this  branch  of  work. 
One  night  last  week,  no  fewer  than  five 
hundred  anxious  ones  remained.  They 
were  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  and  the 
scene  which  was  presented  was  affecting  in 
the  extreme.     In  a  short  time  many  were 


announcing  that  they  had  found  peace,  and 
others    that    they    had     received    assur- 
ance  of  their    conversion.      One   of  the 
more  noteworthy  occasions  on  which  Mr. 
Moody   has    spoken   in    Greenock   was  a 
meeting  for  the  study  of  the  Bible.     The 
audience  consisted  entirely  of  elders,  Sab- 
bath-school teachers,  and  Christian  work- 
ers.    Mr.    Moody    took    for   his    subject, 
"  Heaven  ;"  and,  in  the  course  of  his  re- 
marks, he  said  it  would  be  impious  to  doubt 
that  all  things  were  possible  to  God.     God 
could  convert  souls  to  Himself  in  a  mo- 
ment ;  and  once  a  man  was  converted,  his 
name  was  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of 
life,  and  could  never  be  effaced.     At  the 
same  meeting,  it  was  stated  by  a  gentleman 
from  Edinburgh  that  the  work  in  that  city 
was  spreading  to  all  classes,  and  that  special 
prayer-meetings  are  now  being  held  by  the 
school-boys  of  Edinburgh.     On  Sabbath, 
1 2th   inst.,    Messrs.    Moody    and    Sankey 
were  engaged   at  meetings  all    day.      At 
nine  in  the  morning  they  held  a  conference 
with  Sabbath-school  teachers;  immediately 
afterwards,  the  members  of  the  Working 
Boys'  and  Girls'   Religious  Society,  with 
their  teachers,  were  addressed ;  at  eleven 
Mr.   Moody  gave  a  Bible  reading  in  the  , 
Rev.  Mr.  Macrae's  U.  P.  Church,  Green- 
ock ;    and    in    the  evening,   both   Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  were  present  at  a  meet- 
ing in  the  Town  Hall. 

Another  valued  correspondent  writes  : 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  labors  in 
Greenock  have  excited  an  amount  of  in- 
terest deeper  and  wider  than  any  similar 
services  have  done  in  former  years.  In- 
deed, it  may  be  said  that  no  similar  ser- 
vices have  ever  been  held  here.  There  is 
a  specialty  and  uniqueness  about  these 
which  distinguish  them  from  all  preceding 
efforts  in  the  same  direction.  It  is  very 
observable  that  it  is  the  regular  church- 
going  population  which  has  been  mainly, 
though  not  exclusively,  affected.  The 
class  of  anxious  inquirers  who  have  re- 
mained to  be  personally  dealt  with  after 
the  public  meetings,  has  included  many 
who  have  maintained  a  Christian  profes- 
sion— in  some  cases  for  years — but  who 
sorrowfully  admit  that  they  never  till  now 
realized  the  power  of  divine  grace  in  their 
souls.  Large  numbers  of  all  ages  and  at- 
tainments have  professed  anxiety,  of  whom 
the  greater  proportion  belong  to  this  class. 
Many  of  the  younger  members  of  Chris- 
tian families  have  been  quickened  to  de- 
cision, and   the   additions  to  the   formal 


54 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


membership  of  all  the  churches  are  nu- 
merous in  consequence.  In  one  or  two 
instances  ministers  have  found  among  the 
anxious  inquirers  members  of  their  own 
flock,  whom  they  had  regarded  as  well  es- 
tablished in  Christ.  Several  very  young 
children  have  been  wonderfully  moved ; 
and  among  the  Working  Boys'  and  Girls' 
Society  instances  of  apparent  conversion 
are  numerous.  Ministers  and  members  of 
all  denominations  have  wrought,  on  the 
whole,  harmoniously ;  but  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  here  and  there  a  spirit  of  ex- 
clusiveness  has  shown  itself  where  it  could 
hardly  have  been  expected,  and  which,  if 
it  were  encouraged,  would  do  much  to 
hinder  the  work,  if  not  to  arrest  it  alto- 
gether. 

Wednesday,  April  \^th. — At  the  earnest 
request  of  the  committee  for  united  prayer 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  made  arrange- 
ments for  revisiting  Greenock  this  week. 
Mr.  Sankey  has  been  present  at  all  the 
noon-day  prayer-meetings  in  the  Town 
Hall,  and  the  attendance,  though  not 
nearly  so  large  as  during  the  first  week  of 
his  visit,  has  been  most  encouraging.  At 
the  evening  meetings  in  the  same  place  the 
audiences  have  all  along  been  very  large, 


and  great  numbers  have  remained  till  the 
second  meetings  to  be  spoken  to.  On 
Wednesday,  at  the  "  sweet  hour  of  prayer," 
Mr.  Sankey  said  that  on  the  previous 
evening  the  second  meeting  had  been  the 
most  interesting  of  any  that  he  had  seen 
yet  in  this  country.  The  large  galleries  ot 
the  Town  Hall  were  filled  with  anxious 
ones ;  and,  although  they  were  eager  for 
spiritual  conversation, a  solemn  stillness  was 
preserved  along  with  the  earnestness.  As 
the  work  of  the  ministers  progressed,  num- 
bers of  inquirers  became  convicted,  and  a 
great  many  announced  with  holy  joy  that 
they  had  found  peace  and  been  converted. 
Mr.  Sankey,  noticing  that  some  of  the 
audience  were  in  mourning,  read  a  touch- 
ing letter  from  the  father  of  a  young 
woman  who  had,  only  a  short  time  pre- 
vious, accepted  Christ.  During  the  read- 
ing of  the  letter  not  a  few  were  affected  to 
tears.  On  Tuesday  evening  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stewart,  Ewing  Place  Church,  Glasgow, 
presided,  and  conducted  the  services.  He 
spoke  of  the  work  going  on  in  Glasgow, 
and  narrated  several  instances  of  conver- 
sion that  had  come  under  his  own  notice. 
A  second  meeting  was  held,  to  which 
about  1,200  persons  remained. 


EDINB  URGH. 


I. 

RETURN     OF     MESSRS.     MOODY 
AND  SANKEY  TO  EDINBURGH. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  paid  a 
visit  to  Edinburgh  in  May,  and  continued 
for  three  days.  On  Tuesday  Mr.  Moody 
appeared  at  the  daily  prayer-meeting,  but 
as  he  was  not  generally  expected,  there 
were  not  above  two  hundred  more  than 
the  ordinary  attendance  present,  and  the 
Free  Assembly  Hall  was  not  above  one- 
half  filled.  But  in  the  evening  the  hall 
was  crowded  to  excess  in  every  part.  The 
Moderator's  gallery  was  reserved  for  min- 
isters, of  whom  a  large  number  were  pres- 
ent. There  were  amongst  these  many 
who  had  come  from  remote  districts  of  the 
country  to  be  present  at  the  Assembly 
meetings,  and  whose  keen  and  special  in- 
terest in  the  proceedings  was  very  evident. 
While  the  congregation  awaited  the  arrival 
of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  devotional 


exercises  were  conducted  by  several  of 
the  ministers  of  the  city.  Mr.  Moody, 
on  entering  the  hall,  reminded  the  meet- 
ing that,  when  he  left  Edinburgh  two 
months  ago,  he  requested  the  prayers  of 
the  converts  here  that  a  blessing  might  rest 
on  the  work  they  were  going  to  engage  in 
at  Dundee,  Glasgow,  and  other  towns ;  and 
as  these  prayers  had  been  abundantly  an- 
swered, he  asked  them  to  join  with  him  in 
thanksgiving.  Thanks  for  this  were  ac- 
cordingly offered  up,  and  a  hymn,  "  He 
leads  us,"  having  been  sung,  Mr.  Moody 
delivered  an  address  on  the  words  of  en- 
couragement frequently  found  in  the  Scrip- 
tures addressed  to  God's  people — "Fear 
not."  The  lecture  was  enforced  by  frequent 
re*"erence  to  Scriptures.  The  impression 
was  also  deepened' by  hymns  sung  by  Mr. 
Sankey. 

At  the  close,  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson,  the 
Moderator  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Synod,   made   an   earnest   appeal   in   the 


EDINBURGH. 


55 


name  of  the  churches,  the  missionary  so- 
cieties, and  the  perishing  heathen,  to  the 
young  men  present  to  recruit  the  ranks  of 
the  ministry  at  home  and  abroad.  They 
would  never,  he  said,  rue  the  day  they  laid 
themselves  on  Christ's  altar.  He  spoke  to 
them  in  the  name  of  ministers  of  every  de- 
nomination seated  round  the  platform,  and 
also  in  the  name  of  the  honored  evangelist 
who  presided.  They  had  found  it,  he 
assured  the  meeting,  a  blessed  thing  to 
preach  the  gospel.  None  of  them  would 
like  to  change  places  with  a  king,  a  peer, 
or  a  judge  on  the  bench,  or  to  give  up  their 
ministry  for  a.l  the  world.  No  true  con- 
vert, who  hac  ever  put  his  hand  to  the 
plough,  had  dtsired  to  look  back.  Theirs 
was  the  noblest,  the  happiest,  the  most 
blessed  life  tlat  a  man  could  spend  on 
earth. 

Mr.  Moody  idvocated  the  adoption  of 
a  shorter  coune  of  study  for  young  con- 
verts who  were  willing  to  devote  themselves 
to  evangelistic  and  missionary  labor.  He 
believed  hundieds  and  thousands  of  young 
men  and  womai  in  America  and  this  coun- 
try would  come  forward  to  work  for  the 
Lord  if  they  vere  not  kept  back  by  the 
eight  or  ten  jears  of  study  required.  It 
was  intimated  that  all  the  young  men  dis- 
posed to  respjnd  to  the  appeal  made  by 
Dr.  Thomson  should,  after  time  for  prayer 
and  consideration,  have  an  opportunity 
next  Monda^  evening  of  offering  themselves 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry  or  of  missions. 
The  meetiig  was  then  closed. 

Wednesiay,  May  20th.  —  The  daily 
prayer-meiting  was  densely  crowed  to- 
day. T\\t  body  of  the  hall  was  reserved 
for  minis:ers  till  eleven  o'clock,  but  the 
most  of  those  who  had  been  in  town 
had  left  and  others  had  not  come,  for 
very  fev  appeared ;  and  it  was  marvelous 
with  wlat  a  rush  the  body  of  the  hall  was 
taken  possession  of  at  eleven  o'clock, 
when  the  people  who  were  waiting  out- 
side were  allowed  to  come  in.  Shortly 
after  eleven  Mr.  Sankey  appeared,  and  led 
the  congregation  in  the  singing  of  some 
new  hymns.  The  requests  were  then 
read,  and  the  Rev.  Knox  Talon  prayed. 
"Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus"  was  then 
sung ;  and  Mr.  Moody  called  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  to  the  22d,  23d,  and 
24th  Psalms,  reading  portions  of  them. 

This  meeting  ended  at  one  o'clock, 
many  of  the  audience  having  been  in  the 
hall  since  about  ten  o'clock ;  and  they 
seemed  to  adjourn  nearly  en  masse,  and 


take  possession  of  Free  St.  Luke's,  where 
Mr.  Moody  was  announced  to  lecture  at 
three  o'clock,  for  before  two  o'clock  that 
large  church  was  crowded,  even  to  the 
third  gallery,  with  an  audience  of  not 
much  fewer  than  2,000.  The  singing  of 
favorite  hymns  went  on  for  an  hour,  then 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  following  hymn  as  a 
solo : 

Nothing  but  leaves  !     The  Spirit  grieves 

Over  a  wasted  life  ; 
O'er  sins  indulged  while  conscience  slept 
O'er  vows  and  promises  unkept : 

And  reaps  from  years  of  strife — 
Nothing  but  leaves!  Nothing  but  leaves  ! 

Nothing  but  leaves!     No  gathered  sheaves 

Of  life's  fair  ripening  grain  : 
We  sow  our  seeds;  lo,  tares  and  weeds, 
Words,  idle  words  for  earnest  deeds, 

We  reap  with  toil  and  pain, — 
Nothing  but  leaves!     Nothing  but  leaves  ! 

Nothing  but  leaves  !     Sad  memory  weaves 

No  veil  to  hide  the  past : 
And  as  we  trace  our  weary  way. 
Counting  each  lost  and  misspent  day 

Sadly  we  find  at  last — 
Nothing  but  leaves!     Nothing  but  leaves! 

Ah,  who  shall  thus  the  Master  meet, 

Bearing  but  withered  leaves? 
Ah,  who  shall  at  the  Saviour's  feet, 
Before  the  awful  judgment-seat. 

Lay  down  for  golden  sheaves, 
Nothing  but  leaves  !    Nothing  but  leaves! 

Mr.  Moody  announced  as  his  subject 
The  Two  Adams,  and  showed  that  we  are 
either  in  the  first  or  last  Adam.  The  ad- 
dress was  an  exceedingly  thoughtful  and 
comprehensive  one. 


IL 

THE  PRAISE   MEETING. 

The  Assembly  Hall  seemed  to  be  taken 
possession  of  by  much  the  same  audience 
as  soon  as  the  doors  were  opened,  and 
hundreds  were  disappointed  of  getting  in, 
and  were  addressed  in  the  College  Quad- 
rangle and  the  Free  High  Church.  We 
do  not  think  we  have  ever  seen  the  Free 
Assembly  Hall  so  densely  crowded.  The 
meeting,  which  was  a  short  one,  was  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Moody  reading  portions 
of  the  last  few  Psalms  from  the  145-50, 
and  giving  brief  and  appropriate  com- 
ments on  them.  He  also  read  2  Chron. 
v. ;  Ezek.  v.  11  ;  2  Chron.  xx.  21  ;  Acts 
xvi.  25  ;  Jer.  xv.  9. 

Dr.  Bonar  quoted  i  Peter  i.  3,  "  Blessed 
be  the  God  and  Father,"  etc.     He  said 


56 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  very  essence  of  praise  was,  as  the 
word  blessed  literally  meant,  speaking  well 
of  God  ;  and  the  best  way  to  praise  Him 
was  to  s])eak  well  of  Christ,  to  testify  the 
Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Rev.  Robert  Howie,  of  Glasgow,  then 
addressed  the  meeting,  and  showed  that 
we  have  to  praise  God  for  what  He  has 
given,  and  for  what  He  is ;  but  that  it  is 
a  higher  thing  to  praise  God  for  what  He 
is  than  for  His  gifts  ;  and  if  we  saw  more 
of  God  we  should  praise  Him  more.  If  I 
may  be  permitted  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
my  brethren,  I  would  say  we  owe  more  to 
God  than  you  do  here.  We  rejoiced  to 
hear  of  the  work  here,  and  longed  that  we 
might  have  similar  blessings,  but  we  have 
had  more  than  we  could  have  thought  of. 
There  were  3,500  converts  at  the  farewell 
meeting,  but  that  does  not  represent  above 
one-third  of  those  we  know  have  been 
converted.  And  on  the  last  Sabbath, 
about  20,000  assembled  and  were  address- 
ed in  the  open  air,  and  four  or  five  thou- 
sand went  into  the  Crystal  Palace,  and 
about  two  thousand  of  them  rose  up,  ask- 
ing to  be  prayed  for — seeking  the  Saviour. 
I  have  to  give  special  thanks — first,  for  a 
praying  mother ;  then  my  own  conver- 
sion, and  for  being  in  the  ministry  in 
times  like  these.  We  have  had  a  great 
work  of  grace. 

There  have  been  great  meetings  in  ship- 
building yards,  containing  thousands  of 
men.  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  went 
and  had  a  meeting,  and  1,000  men  came. 
We  believe  that  10,000  have  been  con- 
verted in  Glasgow  since  the  year  began  ; 
but  what  are  these  among  so  many,  when 
our  population  consists  of  600,000  ?  There 
was  one  remark  Mr.  Moody  made  that  he 
never  allowed  a  day  to  pass  without  speak- 
ing to  some  one  about  the  soul's  salvation. 
If  each  one  of  the  thousands  of  saved 
ones  would  do  this,  how  many  would  be 
saved  !  Let  this  be  the  continual  expres- 
sion of  our  praise. 

Rev.  Mr.  Mair,  of  Morningside,  said  he 
had  been  fifteen  years  a  minister,  and  he 
had  to  praise  God  that  this  past  blessed 
Winter  and  Spring  had  been  the  best 
time  in  the  course  of  his  ministry.  If  he 
had  had  ;^i,ooo  given  him  for  his  mis- 
sions and  church-work,  he  would  have 
thanked  the  donor,  and  thought  much  of 
the  gift ;  how  much  more  thankful  should 
we  be  to  God,  who  had,  week  after  week, 
been  giving  precious  souls  ?  Last  com- 
munion was  a  time  when  the  new  power 


was  experienced,  when  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  were  added  to  the  Church.  It 
was  a  real  communion,  for  souls  were 
feeling  really  joined  to  the  Lord. 

A  minister  from  the  country  gave  thanks 
for  blessing  to  himself  and  the  district 
where  he  labored.  He  said  we  had  no 
idea  of  the  depth  and  extent  of  the  work 
in  the  country. 

Rev.  John  Duke,  of  Dundee,  thanked 
God  for  a  plenteous  rain  in  Dundee  in 
connection  with  the  visit  of  :he  American 
brethren.  About  400  had  been  converted, 
and  they  were  going  on  well.  They  were 
working  also  in  giving  tracts,  teaching  in 
Sunday-schools,  helping  evangelists  by 
singing  in  the  streets.  He  had  had  a  young 
communicants'  class,  the  lite  of  which  he 
had  not  had  for  six  years. 

Rev.  John  Morgan  prased  the  Lord 
for  his  own  conversion ;  fcr  putting  him 
into  the  ministry  in  times  ike  these,  and 
in  circumstances  such  as  he  had  had. 
During  the  eight  years  of  hjs  ministry,  he 
had  admitted  2,500  to  the  fellowship  of 
the  Church.  And  more  especially  would 
he  praise  God  for  the  privjege  of  being 
in  the  work  going  on  in  thislcity  last  Win- 
ter and  Spring. 

Rev.  John  Kelman  praiked  God  for 
many  blessings.  He  mentioied  one  cause 
for  praise,  that  there  had  beei  such  good 
weather  during  the  visit  of  thnr  American 
brethren  to  Edinburgh :  only  four  days 
had  been  foul. 

Rev.  James  Robertson,  of  N'ewington, 
said  :  They  had  truly  been  gettng  of  late 
into  the  rapids  of  the  stream  tuit  makes 
glad  the  city  of  God.  Often  in  early 
days  he  had,  after  awakening. sermons, 
watched  for  his  minister  at  the  corners 
of  the  streets,  eagerly  wishing  br  some 
opportunity  of  speaking  with  hin.  He 
believed  there  were  many  such  in  ill  con- 
gregations— their  hearts  longing  e^en  to 
bursting  with  concern  about  saUation. 
It  would  be  to  such  like  cold  water  to 
the  thirsty  to  have  special  invitation 
every  Sabbath-day  to  meet  with  thei: 
minister  alone.  On  a  Monday  morning 
he  had  been  visiting  a  dying  father  in 
the  ministry,  who  asked,  "  What  were 
you  preaching  on  yesterday  .''  "  "  I 
preached  a  whole  sermon  to  the  uncon- 
verted." "Oh,"  said  he,  "  preach  many, 
many  whole  sermons  to  the  unconvert<i'd. 
I  would  often  do  that  if  I  had  my  work  to 
begin  again.  We  are  far  too  ready  to  take 
for  granted  that  people  know  the  way  to 


EDINBURGH. 


57 


be  saved."  In  his  last  moments,  another 
saint  was  heard  whispering,  "  Bring,  bring." 
One  article  was  brought  after  another,  but 
the  waving  of  his  hand  showed  that  none 
of  them  Avas  what  he  meant.  Then  at 
length,  with  a  great  effort,  he  uttered : 

"  Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem. 
And  crown  Hitn  Lord  of  ally 

Mr.  Sankey  then  sang  a  hymn  of  the 
lost  sheep  found,  and  the  meeting  was 
closed  with  the  doxology. 


III. 
NOON  PRAYER-MEETING. 

Thursday^  21st. — The  daily  prayer-meet- 
ing was  held  to-day  in  Free  St.  John's 
Church  on  account  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  in  the  New  Assembly  Hall.  The 
hour  was  eleven  o'clock.  At  the  hour  Mr. 
Moody  entered  and  asked  the  meeting  to 
join  in  singing  the  46th  Psalm, — 

"  God  is  our  refuge  and  our  strength, 
In  straits  a  present  aid  ; 
Therefore,  although  the  earth  remove, 
We  will  not  be  afraid." 

Mr.  Moody  then  led  in  prayer,  asking 
for  special  blessing  on  Edinburgh,  on  the 
Assemblies  convening  on  that  day,  on 
deputations  of  young  men  going  out  in 
the  Lord's  work,  and  very  specially  on  the 
great  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  Queen's 
Park  at  five  o'clock. 

The  subject  for  the  day  was.  The  thief 
on  the  cross,  Luke  xxiii.  39,  etc.  There  is 
the  conversion  of  all  classes  of  people 
in  the  Bible  —  the  rich  and  poor — the 
virtuous  and  the  vicious,  and  the  vilest 
of  the  vile ;  this  thief  was  one  of  this 
vile  sort.  There  were  several  thoughts 
expressed  regarding  what  converted  the 
thief.  Mr.  Moody  said  it  might  be  hear- 
ing Christ's  prayer,  "  Father,  forgive 
them."  Rev.  Mr.  Morgan  thought  he  may 
have  had  a  praying  mother,  whose  heart 
he  broke,  and  she  knew  only  when  she 
went  to  heaven  that  her  prayers  had 
been  answered.  Mr.  James  Balfour  said 
he  had  heard  the  Lord  said,  //  is  finished, 
for  Christ  died  before  the  thieves.  Mr. 
Moody  drew  some  lessons  from  the  dying 
thief,  such  as,  (i.)  The  strength  of  his 
faith;  (2.)  That  Christ  is  never  in  a  po- 
sition in  which  He  cannot  hear  prayer ; 
(3.)  That  salvation  is  distinct  from  all 
ordinances  and  works.     He  could  neither 


be  baptized  nor  have  the  Lord's  Supper; 
and  He  had  nails  through  hands  anc^ 
feet,  and  could  neither  work  for  God  nor 
run  on  His  errands  to  carry  blessing  to 
others.  He  said  he  was  struck  with  what 
Dr.  A.  Bonar  had  said  in  Glasgow — that 
he  had  asked  his  Bible-class  to  find  ano- 
ther instance  of  a  death-bed  conversion, 
and  they  could  not  find  one.  We  speak 
of  this  being  the  eleventh  hour,  but  per- 
haps to  the  thief  it  was  only  the  first,  for 
it  was  likely  the  first  time  he  had  heard 
Christ.  Let  us  now  sing  the  iSth  Hymn, 
which  fits  right  into  this  subject, — 

"  O  bliss  of  the  purified,  bliss  of  the  free  ; 
I  plunged  in  the  crimson  tide  opened  for  me. 
O'er  sin  and  uncleanness  exulting  I  stand, 
And   point   to   the   print  of  the  nails  in  His 

hands. 
O  sing  of  His  mighty  love,  mighty  to  save." 

The  Rev.  James  Robertson  referred  to 
having  visited  in  his  cell  a  condemned 
man,  who  said,  "  Ah,  sir,  when  I  am  gone 
nobody  will  remember  me."  Didn't  the 
dying  thief  speak  as  if  he  fully  knew  that 
Jesus  was  going  away  to  be  the  Intercessor 
for  transgressors  .''  He  could  not  say,  "  I 
have  fought  a  good  fight."  Yet  who  sings 
more  loudly  or  more  gladly,  "  Salvation  to 
the  Lamb."  He  got  not  weapons  to  fight, 
but  wings  to  fly.  The  last  act  of  the  Re- 
deemer's life  was  the  saving  of  a  soul.  No 
other  door  into  heaven  but  that  which 
this  thief  went  in  by.  "  I  would  like  to 
know_>'^z^  in  heaven,"  said  a  friend  to  old 
John  Newton  on  his  death-bed.  He  re- 
plied, "  Well,  you  v/ill  find  me  at  the  feet 
of  the  thief  who  was  saved  upon  the  cross." 
It  is  a  shame  to  be  deep  in  debt  on  earth, 
but  it  will  be  our  glory  in  heaven  to  be 
the  deepest  drowned  in  debt  to  "  free  grace 
and  undying  love." 

Rev.  W.  Bremner,  of  Glasgow,  said  the 
Jews  wanted  evidently  to  degrade  Christ 
by  having  the  two  malefactors  crucified 
with  Him ;  but  Satan  was  outwitted,  for 
the  prey  was  taken  from  the  mighty,  and 
one  of  them  was  taken  with  Him  to  heav- 
en, to  show  His  power  to  save  even  when 
on  the  very  brink  of  hell.  Are  there  not 
some  here  on  the  brink  of  hell .?  To-day  is 
your  only  opportunity  as  far  as  you  know ; 
be  saved  now. 

Mr.  Balfour  referred  to  the  ever  memor- 
able watch-night,  and  how  we  prayed  that 
many  might  be  made  "  fishers  of  men  " 
this  year,  and  how  wonderfully  the  Lord 
has  heard  our  prayers. 


58 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


IV. 

GREAT  FAREWELL  EVANGELIS- 
TIC MEETING  IN  THE  QUEEN'S 
PARK. 

On  Thursday,  21st,  at  5  o'clock,  a  great 
gathering  assembled  in  a  natural  amphi- 
theatre on  the  way  to  St.  Anthony's  Well, 
in  the  Queen's  Park,  to  hear  the  farewell 
singing  of  Mr.  Sankey  and  the  farewell 
preaching  of  Mr.  Moody.  It  was  the 
largest  open-air  meeting  we  have  ever 
seen  convened  to  hear  the  gospel.  We 
took  pains  to  get  a  fair  estimate  of  the 
number  present,  and  we  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  were  between  ten 
and  ELEVEN  THOUSAND.  There  were 
never  above  ten  thousand  present  at  one 
time,  for  during  the  hour  when  the  preach- 
ing was  going  on,  hundreds  came  and 
hundreds  went  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
crowd. 

The  audience  was  singing  '■'■Jesus  loves 
me"  as  we  came  within  hearing  of  the 
meeting,  and  from  the  number  of  voices 
joining  in  the  singing,  we  concluded  that 
the  majority  of  those  present  had  attended 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  meetings. 
The  Hundredth  Psalm  was  then  sung, 
and  that  was  the  only  thing  in  which  all 
the  audience  seemed  to  join — at  least  in 
the  first  verse — for  they  knew  the  tune. 
Then  Rev.  Mr.  Grant  read,  at  Mr.  Moody's 
request,  John  iii.,  and  Rev.  Wm.  Eraser 
prayed.  We  then  had  a  hymn,  and  Mr. 
Moody  preached  "  the  gospel  to  ever  crea- 
ture," and  thoroughly  illustrated  it  by 
striking  anecdotes  and  incidents.  His 
voice  reached  us  outside,  and  we  could 
follow  him,  but  with  the  constant  conver- 
sations —  children  playing  and  shouting, 
and  a  number  of  dog-fights,  those  not  ac- 
customed to  him  averred  that  they  lost 
some  of  his  words,  and  were  rather  strain- 
ed in  following  him.  It  would  have  been 
a  better  arrangement  if  Mr.  Moody's 
preaching  had  come  on  half  an  hour  ear- 
lier. With  such  an*  immense  audience  the 
effect  would  have  been  greater  had  they 
been  addressed  sooner  ;  for  the  night  be- 
ing rather  cold,  about  a  thousand  persons 
left  during  the  time  he  was  preaching — 
especially  of  the  outsiders  :  the  very  per- 
sons most  needing  the  gospel.  We  trust 
that  the  Word  was  with  power  to  many, 
for  the  preacher  spoke  plainly,  earnestly, 
and  faithfully,  and  gave  an  A  B  C  gospel, 
so  that  all  might  understand.  It  was  a 
solemn  time.     There  was  a  mass  of  men, 


and  women,  and  children,  many  of  them 
unsaved,  and  needing  to  hear  words  of 
salvation,  and  they  heard  them.  It  was 
an  impressive  sight  to  see  masses  of  hu- 
man beings  hanging  on  or  sitting  on  the 
shelves,  and  to  all  appearance  in  the 
clefts  of  the  rocks  behind  the  preacher, 
for  it  reminded  us  of  the  time  when  men 
and  women  will  be  crying  to  the  rocks 
to  fall  on  them  and  cover  them  from 
the  face  of  Him  who  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb, 
and  the  blessed  contrast  made  us  glad, 
for  here  was  one  standing  on  the  rock 
beseeching  sinners  in  Christ's  stead  to 
be  reconciled  to  God.  It  was  the  day 
of  grace,  and  not  the  day  of  wrath  !  It 
was  said  in  a  newspaper  that  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  were  hustled  and  mob- 
bed, at  the  close,  by  ill-behaved  people. 
This  may  have  been,  but  we  did  not  see 
it :  it  appeared  to  us  rather  that  those 
who  pressed  upon  Mr.  Moody  were  loving 
friends  wishing  to  bid  him  farewell,  and 
he  had  to  flee  from  them,  which  he  did, 
and  escaped  to  the  carriage  waiting  on  the 
Queen's  Drive  below,  pursued  by  hun- 
dreds, all  anxious  to  shake  hands  with 
him.  Mr.  Sankey,  in  following,  had  equal 
difficulty  in  getting  away  from  the  thou- 
sands that  wished  to  have  a  last  shake  of 
his  hand.  The  crowd  of  appreciating 
persons  whom  we  saw  at  the  side  of  the 
carriage  were  eager,  loving  friends  :  and 
we  saw  none  of  the  other  sort.  There 
never  was  such  a  scene  witnessed  in  Edin- 
burgh, or  anywhere  else,  so  far  as  we  have 
ever  heard.  We  believe  it  is  an  index  of 
the  feelings  entertained  for  our  excellent 
friends,  and  the  token  of  genuine  regard 
and  Christian  love  for  the  blessing  the 
Lord  has  made  their  labors  in  the  gospel 
to  many  souls. 


V. 

HOW   THE    AWAKENING   FOUND 

US. 

The  minds  of  the  ministers  of  Scotland 
were  occupied  for  ten  years  with  a  pro- 
ject for  the  Union  of  the  Churches.  An 
outsider  could  see  no  sufficient  reason  why 
the  non-established  Churches  there  should 
remain  apart  when  they  were  at  one  in 
doctrine,  polity,  and  worship ;  but  after 
spending  ten  years  of  precious  time  in 
trying  to  have  a  union  consummated,  they 
failed,  and  negotiations  for  it  were  finally 


EDINBURGH. 


59 


broken  off.  All  this  time,  their  minds 
being  so  full  of  this  union  work,  and  of 
the  controversies  in  connection  with  the 
prosecution  of  it,  their  proper  work  of 
seeking  the  salvation  of  the  lost,  and  the 
growth  in  grace  of  the  saved,  had  not  been 
carried  forward  so  vigorously  as  it  might 
and  should  have  been.  The  saving  of 
sinners  had  nearly  come  to  a  stand-still ; 
and  many  were  feeling  the  burden  of  souls, 
and  imploring  the  Lord  to  send  a  spirit 
of  awakening  and  revival,  when  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  came  to  Edinburgh, 
and  the  blessing  of  God  seemed  to  come 
with  them,  and  to  diffuse  itself  over  the 
city  and  the  country  at  large.  We  know 
that  it  was  immediate,  for  it  came  into  our 
own  family  the  first  night  that  Mr.  Moody 
preached :  and  that  it  has  continued  and 
increased  in  power  and  volume,  the  late 
farewell  meetings  in  Glasgow  and  Edin- 
burgh attest.  The  soil  is  now  productive, 
and  a  breath  of  spring-tide  freshness  is  in 
the  air.  Sinners  in  great  numbers  are 
coming  to  Christ,  and  associating  with  His 
people. 

And  the  Lord  Himself  has  done  this 
great  work  in  such  a  way  as  to  hide 
pride  from  man.  Who  would  ever  have 
framed  such  a  prayer  as  this,  and  pre- 
sented it  at  the  throne  of  grace :  "  O 
Lord,  in  Thy  great  mercy  send  the  two 
laymen  called  Moody  and  Sankey  from 
the  city  of  Chicago,  to  be  the  instru- 
ments in  the  revival  of  Thy  work  in  the 
cities  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  and 
throughout  Scotland.''"  Any  person  who 
would  have  dared  to  pray  in  that  fashion 
a  year  ago  would  have  been  deemed  a 
lunatic ;  for  who  had  heard  of  such  men  .? 
And  yet  they  are  the  men  God  has  chiefly 
employed  to  accomplish  the  great  work  in 
which  we  this  day  rejoice.  We  were  very 
much  struck  one  day  at  hearing  a  Free 
Church  minister  thanking  God  publicly 
that  He  had  sent  those  honored  evangel- 
ists to  do  the  great  work  they  were  doing, 
and  thereby  rebuke  and  humble  ministers 
for  not  having  put  themselves  into  His 
hands  to  be  used  by  Him  in  doing  that 
work,  but  that  strangers  should  have  to  be 
sent  by  Him  to  do  it.  And  the  union  has 
come,  too,  in  a  higher  way  by  the  power 
of  the  Spirit ;  but  since  this  was  written 
the  Moderator  of  the  Free  Church  Assem- 
bly has  delivered  his  opening  address,  and 
he  has  struck  the  right  key-note.  Let  us 
read  what  he  has  said  thank  God,  and 
take  courage. 


VI. 

FREE    CHURCH   MODERATOR'S 
OPENING  ADDRESS. 

The  last  third  of  Dr.  Stewart's  opening 
address  was  occupied  with  the  present 
awakening.  He  spoke  as  follows :  When 
differences  of  opinion  and  divisions  arise 
among  those  who  are  honestly  and  ear- 
nestly seeking  the  good  of  His  Church,  the 
Great  Head,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  often 
heals  these  divisions  in  a  way  they  dream 
not  of,  and  discovers  "a  more  excellent 
way  "  for  bringing  about  the  end  all  have 
in  view,  viz. :  His  glory. 

We  have  had  a  very  remarkable  example 
of  this  in  connection  with  our  late  troubles. 
At  the  very  time  when  the  proposal 
of  an  incorporating  union  with  brethren 
of  other  churches  seemed  to  be  relegated 
to  a  far  distant  future— when  an  answer 
to  the  many  prayers  that  "  we  all  might  be 
one,  even  as  the' Father  and  Son  are  one," 
seemed  to  be  withheld — when  pseudo- 
philosophers,  with  profane  levity,  were 
proposing  a  prayer  gauge,  to  test  the 
efficacy  of  prayer— the  Lord  manifested 
Himself  as  a  faithful  and  a  jealous  God- 
jealous  for  His  own  glory  and  faithful  to  His 
promises — as  the  hearer  and  answerer  of 
prayer,  by  pouring  out  a  blessed  and 
copious  effusion  of  His  Holy  Spirit  upon 
our  land,  whereby  many  have  been  con- 
verted and  saved,  and  a  deep  and  most 
solemn  impression  has  been  produced  upon 
the  minds  of  men  of  all  ranks  and  degrees. 
The  result  of  this  blessed  visitation  has 
been  the  healing  of  breaches  among  beloved 
brethren,  and  the  producing  such  union  of 
heart  and  co-operation  among  the  godly 
and  earnest-minded  laborers  in  all  our 
churches  as  warrant  the  hope  of  union 
on  a  broader  basis  than  we  had  dreamt 
of,  when  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall 
lift  up  a  standard  "  against  Popery  and  in- 
fidelity, "  coming  in  like  a  flood,"  or  when 
in  some  other  way  "  God's  set  time  to 
favor  you"  shall  arrive.  He  has  prom- 
ised that  His  people  "  shall  see  eye  to  eye 
when  He  turns  again  the  captivity  of  His 
Zion,"  and  meantime,  "  in  brotherly  love 
preferring  one  another,"  let  us  watch  and 
pray  for  it,  "  more  than  they  that  watch 
for  the  morning." 

Permit  me  to  say,  as  a  comparative 
stranger,  that  of  all  the  business  trans- 
acted by  the  last  General  Assembly,  that 
which  affected  and  refreshed  me  most  was 
the  conferences  regarding  the  state  of  re- 


6o 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ligion  throughout  the  country  in  general 
— the  manifestations  of  spiritual  life  in  the 
various  congregations  under  your  charge, 
and  the  measures  adopted  or  recommend- 
ed for  overtaking  the  spiritual  destitution 
still,  alas  !  too  prevalent  throughout  the 
land.  It  was  a  disappointment  that  more 
time  could  not  then  be  spared  for  the  con- 
sideration of  subjects  of  such  permanent 
interest,  but  I  trust  this  year  they  may  oc- 
cupy both  more  time  and  a  more  promi- 
nent place  in  our  deliberations. 

It  has  pleased  God  to  make  use  of  two 
strangers  from  the  other  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic as  the  instruments  through  whom  the 
spiritual  awakening  which  has  gladdened, 
and  still  is  gladdening,  many  parts  of 
Scotland,  broke  forth;  and  readily  and 
heartily,  I  am  sure,  we  are  ready  to  ren- 
der all  due  honor  to  beloved  brethren 
whom  the  Lord  Himself  has  honored — 
but,  at  the  same  time,  we  must  not  lose 
sight  of  the  fact,  that  by  these  conferences 
in  our  Assemblies  on  the  state  of  religion, 
by  the  deputations  sent  down  to  visit  the 
various  Presbyteries  with  the  same  object 
in  view,  and  by  increasing  prayer  and 
spiritual  effort  on  the  part  of  ministers, 
elders,  deacons,  and  other  godly  laymen, 
the  ground  had  already  been  prepared, 
the  good  seed  had  been  copiously  sown, 
and  all  that  was  wanting  was  that  "  God 
should. give  the  increase."  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  our  God,  for  He  hath  given  the  in- 
crease, and  many  of  you,  beloved  breth- 
ren, who  for  many  a  year  "  went  forth 
weeping,  bearing  your  precious  seed,  have 
at  last  returned  rejoicing,  bringing  your 
sheaves  with  you." 

One  more  remark,  and  I  have  done. 
Rev.  fathers  and  brethren,  there  is  still 
another  aspect  in  which  it  seems  to  me 
we  should  regard  the  blessed  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  awakening  and  re- 
.  viving  the  churches  of  our  land  at  this 
time,  and  that  is  in  the  light  of  "  a 
baptism  with  fire"  ere  times  of  trouble 
come,  ere  we  are  called  "  to  contend 
earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints."  In  looking  back  upon  the 
history  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  we  can 
trace  many  instances  in  which  such  "  times 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord"  were  the  preludes  to  seasons  of 
warfare  and  distress,  of  storm  and  tem- 
pest, when  men's  hearts  were  ready  to  fail 
them  through  fear,  and  many  made  ship- 
wreck of  their  faith.  Surely  this  is  one 
aspect  in  which  we  may  regard  the  out- 


pouring of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  for  scarcely  had  its  blessed 
effects  been  felt,  than  persecution  of  the 
infant  Church  began.  'I'he  outpouring  of 
the  Spirit  and  remarkable  awakening  that 
accompanied  the  great  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century  was  at  once  the  prelude 
to  centuries  of  persecution  and  martyr- 
dom, and  the  preparation  of  God's  people 
for  "  resisting  unto  blood,  striving  against 
sin." 

In  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land this  has  been  often  verified.  The 
revival  of  religion  in  Scotland,  so  affect- 
ingly  described  by  the  historian  Kirkton, 
was  the  means  God  used  to  fortify  the 
hearts  of  His  people  against  the  dragon- 
ades  of  the  bloody  Claverhouse.  When 
infidelity,  heresy,  and  moderatism  were 
deluging  the  Church  about  the  middle  of 
last  century,  the  Lord  the  Spirit  raised  up 
a  standard  against  them,  in  the  remark- 
able revival  at  the  Kirk  of  Shotts,  and 
generally  throughout  the  West  of  Scot- 
land. And  in  later  times,  when  the  "  ten 
years'  conflict "  had  fairly  begun,  a  new 
baptism  of  fire  was  given  to  our  Church 
in  the  revivals  at  Kilsyth,  Dundee,  and 
many  places  in  the*  North,  to  prepare 
men's  hearts  for  the  Disruption  with  all  its 
trials  and  sacrifices,  its  astounding  liberal- 
ities, and  its  ultimate  triumph. 

If  we  take  into  account  the  state  of  so- 
ciety in  Britain  at  the  present  day — the 
growth  of  libertinism,  communism,  and 
infidelity — the  influx  of  Jesuits  into  it  un- 
opposed— the  rapidity  with  which  Popery 
is  again  acquiring  the  mastery  in  the 
Church  of  England  under  the  name  of 
ritualism,  and  the  supineness  with  which 
good  men  within  her  pale  regard  the 
humiliating  spectacle — we  have  not  to 
look  far  for  a  field  of  elements  of  trouble 
and  danger  to  all  the  churches  of  our 
land  ;  for  these  two  enemies.  Popery  and 
infidelity,  however  divergent  the  ends  they 
aim  at,  will  act  together  as  faithful  allies 
in  the  endeavor  to  crush  out  vital  religion. 
With  such  conflict  in  prospect — conflict 
in  which,  if  we  would  be  faithful  to  our 
Lord  and  Master,  and  keep  carefully  the 
sheep  of  His  pasture,  we  must  needs  take  ♦ 
our  part — we  ought  with  gratitude  to  rec- 
ognize in  the  present  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  a  similar  preparation  vouchsafed  to 
us  against  the  day  of  trouble,  and  to  con- 
sider seriously  what  attitude  ,it  becomes 
us  as  a  Church  to  assume  in  defence  of 
the  gospel. 


THE  WORK  ELSEWHERE  IN  SCOTLAND. 


6i 


'*  Finally,  my  brethren,  be  strong  in  the 
Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  His  naight." 


VII. 

DR.    THOMSON'S    CLOSING    AD- 
DRESS. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Thomson,  as  Modera- 
tor of  the  United  Presbyterian  Synod,  said 
in  his  closing  address  :  "  There  is  no  part 
of  the  Synod's  proceedings  that  has  been 
so  interesting  alike  to  yourselves  and  to 
the  Christian  public  as  the  conference  on 
the  great  religious  revival  and  on  evangel- 
istic work.  While  some  brethren  were 
perplexed  by  honest  difficulties  which  ex- 
planation removed,  and  while  on  the  part 
of  none  of  us  was  there  any  disposition 
shown  to  give  a  blind  and  unqualified  ap- 
proval to  everything  that  had  been  done  or 
spoken,  there  was  soon  manifested  a  uni- 
versal readiness  to  acknowledge  in  the 
present  awakening  a  blessed  reality,  and 
to  own  in  it  with  adoring  gratitude  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     There  was  a 


tone  of  glad  and  solemn  interest,  an  eager- 
ness for  information  and  for  practical  sug- 
gestions,and  an  earnest  desire  that  the  bless- 
.ing  might  spread  like  a  vestal  fire  over  the 
land.  The  hearts  of  the  brethren  beat 
warmly  and  in  unison.  The  extensive  and 
thorough  nature  of  the  measures  recom- 
mended by  the  Synod  in  the  sending  of 
deputations  to  Presbyteries,  the  issuing  of 
a  pastoral  address,  and  the  exhortation  to 
every  minister  and  session  to  seek  revival 
in  themselves  and  in  their  flock,  and  then 
to  make  their  churches  the  centres  of  an 
earnest  evangelism  to  the  regions  around 
them,  proves  how  much  the  Synod  had 
become  of  one  heart  and  one  soul  in  this 
mighty  movement.  If  the  injunctions  of 
the  Synod  are  carried  out  with  prayerful 
and  persevering  energy  in  all  our  congre- 
gations— from  Shetland  to  the  Mull  of 
Galloway,  and  from  Berwick  to  Brighton — 
it  will  be  a  blessed  year  for  our  Church, 
many  a  full  net  will  be  brought  to  land, 
and  long  before  another  Synod,  the  cry 
will  have  gone  up  from  many  a  congrega- 
tion, "  And  now,  O  Lord,  we  thank  and 
praise  Thy  glorious  name." 


THE  V/ORK  ELSEWHERE  IN  SCOTLAND. 


At  Dunbarton,  that  busy  ship-build- 
ing town,  Mr.  Moody  preached  in  the 
South  Church  twice  and  gave  a  Bible  lec- 
ture at  the  Free  Church ;  on  the  24th  of 
May  he  and  Mr.  Sankey  were  at  Kilmar- 
nock, when  many  from  neighboring  towns 
and  parishes  were  drawn  together.  On 
that  day  three  meetings  were  held.  The 
first  was  specially  designed  for  workers; 
while  in  the  case  of  the  other  two,  the 
numbers  proved  so  great,  that  after  the 
Low  Church  was  filled  with  its  thousands, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  open  King  Street 
U.  P.  Church,  which  was  also  speedily 
filled.  The  meetings  in  the  Low  Church 
were  conducted  by  Mr.  Moody,  and  those 
in  King  Street  by  the  ministers  of  the 
town  and  a  few  others,  while.  Mr.  Sankey 
went  between  the  places,  and  took  part  in 
all  the  meetings. 

On  Monday  the  evangelists  proceeded 
to  Saltcoats.  A  meeting  was  held  in  the 
afternoon  in  the  Parish  Church,  which  was 
densely  crowded,  and  crowds  again  assem- 
bled in  the  evening  in  it  and  the  North 


Church.     On  Tuesday  at  noon  a  meeting 
was  held  in  Irvine  Established  Church. 

Although  there  was  less  than  a  day  to 
make  the  necessary  preparations,  yet  at 
the  hour  the  large  building  was  filled.  Mr. 
Moody  preached  most  powerfully  and  im- 
pressively from  Mark  xvi.  15,  16,  and  Mr. 
Sankey  sang  one  of  his  most  eloquent 
appeals.  A  well-attended  meeting  was 
held  in  the  evening  in  the  Relief  Church, 
and  was  conducted  by  the  ministers  of  the 
town.  The  brethren  could  not  wait  to  at- 
tend this  meeting,  as  arrangements  had 
been  made  for  their  presence  in  Ayr.  Long 
before  four  o'clock,  the  Old  Church  there 
was  crowded  to  overflowing.  Meetings 
were  also  held  in  the  evening,  at  eight 
o'clock,  in  the  Old  Church,  and  in  Cath- 
cart  Street  U.  P.  Church.  It  will  thus  be 
seen  that  Ayrshire  has  shared  with  other 
places  largely,  though  in  a  brief  time.  I 
am  content  that  results  should  tell  the 
power,  and  yet  as  an  eye-witness  to  the 
meetings  in  Kilmarnock,  Saltcoats,  and 
Irvine,  I  cannot  refrain  from  testifying  to 


62 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  expectancy  and  solemnity  that  per- 
vaded the  large  gatherings,  and  the  deep 
interest  and  attention  manifested. 


PERTH. 


"  Good  unto  all  men  is  the  Lord, 
O'er  all  His  works  His  mercy  is." 

We,  in  Perth,  have  found  it  true.  It 
was  last  Winter  when  the  Christmas  fogs 
were  round  us  that  we  heard  once  more 
"  tidings  of  great  joy."  The  power  of  the 
Lord  was  present  in  Edinburgh,  and  the 
men  with  whom  the  right  hand  of  the 
Lord  was  working  were  expected  in  our 
city. 

Often  during  the  years  since  the  Revival 
of  iS6o,  the  prayer  had  gone  up  that  the 
Spirit  of  quickening  might  be  poured  out 
on  Perth,  and  now  we  thought  the  Lord 
will  answer  these  prayers — our  prayers, 
the  prayers  of  the  strangers  who  have 
been  amongst  us,  and  the  prayers  of  our 
departed  ones.  But  God's  "  due  season  " 
had  not  come. 

Noon-day  prayer-meetings  and  evangel- 
istic meetings  were  commenced,  and  we 
looked  from  week  to  week  for  the  presence 
of  Mr.  Moody  and  Sankey  in  our  midst. 
For  twenty  weeks  the  noon-day  meetings 
were  continued,  and  God  gave  many  drops 
of  blessing  during  that  time.  There  was 
a  cheering  work  amongst  the  children. 
Professor  Martin,  from  Aberdeen,  held 
meetings  for  five  weeks,  and  in  these  meet- 
ings many  little  ones  gave  their  hearts  to 
Jesus. 

The  Professor  left  us,  and  it  was  resolv- 
ed to  make,  for  one  month,  a  strenuous 
effort  to  win  the  older  people  to  Christ  by 
holding  evangelistic  services  every  night 
in  the  week,  Saturday  excepted.  During 
that  month  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
have  come — and  we  lift  our  hearts  to  God 
and  are  glad  that  He  has  chosen  His  own 
time  for  sending  them,  and  that  He  has 
sent  His  blessing  with  them  now. 

Mr.  Sankey  came  amongst  us  on  Friday, 
the  29th  of  May.  There  was  a  meeting  in 
the  evening,  at  which  Dr.  Black,  of  Inver- 
ness, and  Mr.  Robertson  addressed  the 
people,  and  for  the  first  time  in  Perth,  %ve 
heard  that  night  Mr.  Sankey 's  new  song. 

On  Sunday  morning  a  meeting  was  held 
for  "  Christian  Workers,  and  those  disposed 
to  work,"  when  the  City  Hall  was  crowded. 
Earnestly  and  thrillingly  Mr.  Moody  spoke, 
and  when  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  Go  work  in 


my  vineyard,"  that  large  congregation  lis- 
tened with  glistening  eyes,  and  hearts 
kindled  anew  in  love  to  Jesus  and  a  desire 
to  work  more  diligently  for  Him  who  suf- 
fered so  much  for  us. 

In  the  evening  there  were  meetings  on 
the  South  Inch  (at  which  between  4,000 
and  5,000  people  were  present),  and  in  the 
City  Hall,  with  overflow  meetings  in  two 
churches.  If  it  were  the  spirit  of  curiosity 
which  prompted  such  multitudes  to  stand 
about  for  hours  until  they  could  get  into 
a  church,  we  must  thank  God  that  He  has 
brought  good  even  out  of  this  evil. 

Mr.  Moody  has  held  the  usual  course  of 
meetings  every  day.  Noon-day  meeting 
in  the  City  Hall,  Bible-reading  in  the 
Free  West  Church,  and  evening  meeting 
in  the  North  United  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  number  of  inquirers  has  been  very 
great,  and  many,  very  many,  have  found 
peace.  It  has  been  a  quiet,  strong  tide  of 
blessing  ;  it  is  as  if  God  had  sent  His  ser- 
vants to  unlock  the  flood-gates  of  His 
grace,  and  the  water  of  life  has  swept  out 
in  deep  and  steady  currents,  leaving  no 
place  for  the  breaking  waves  of  excite- 
ment and  mere  feeling.  Especially  is  this 
to  be  noticed  in  the  Bible-readings,  when 
from  day  to  day  the  large  church  in  which 
Mr.  Moody  lectures,  is  crowded  with 
people  reverently  and  simply  studying 
God's  Word. 

Besides  the  above  meetings,  there  has 
been  an  overflow  meeting  in  the  City  Hall 
each  night,  at  which  many  have  been 
blessed.  And  in  the  Free  West  Church 
there  is  a  meeting  for  children.  There  is 
an  inquiry-meeting  after,  from  which  many 
little  ones  go  out  trusting  intelligently  and 
heartily  in  Jesus,  and  eager  to  bring  others 
to  Him. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  remained  at 
Perth  until  the  7  th  of  June,  where  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  Mr.  Moody  preached 
to  a  congregation  of  not  less  than  7,000 
souls.  The  following  Tuesday  the  evan- 
gelists paid  another  visit  to 

DUNDEE. 

On  Tuesday  night  two  churches  were 
thrown  open,  but  so  great  were  the  crowds 
seeking  admission  that  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  adjourn  to  the  Barrack  Park,  where 
an  immense  number  of  persons  of  all 
classes  speedily  assembled.  The  sight  of 
so  many  persons  hurrying  along  the  streets 
from  the  churches  to  the  park  had  the  ef- 
fect  of  arousing   the   curiosity  of  many 


ABERDEEN: 


63 


more,  who  also  hastened  to  the  meeting. 
It  was  pleasing  to  see  so  many  in  their 
working  clothes,  mechanics  and  others ; 
women  carrying  their  children  in  their 
arms — in  short,  many  from  the  humblest 
ranks  of  life  ;  and  Mr.  Moody  preached 
with  his  usual  pathos  and  force.  At  the 
close  of  the  service,  meetings  for  inquirers 
were  held. 

On  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday 
nights  open-air  meetings  were  held  in  the 
same  place.  On  each  successive  night  the 
interest  and  solemnity  seemed  to  grow 
more  intense.  The  attendance  was  very 
large,  the  numbers  being,  variously  esti- 
mated at  from  10,000  to  16,000  souls. 
Nothing  could  surpass  the  decorum  of  the 
vast  assemblage.  There  was  no  sensation- 
alism in  the  service,  and  no  frothy  excite- 
ment in  the  audience.  One  striking  fea- 
ture in  the  composition  of  the  gathering 
was  the  unusually  large  proportion  of  men- 
shrewd, hard-headed,  strong-minded  men — 
a  class  not  to  be  put  off  their  feet  by  any 
mere  sensationalism.  And  yet  we  saw 
the  eyes  of  hundreds  of  these  horny- 
handed  sons  of  toil  suffused  with  tears, 
under  the  word  of  God,  which  was  preached 
with  unaffected  simplicity.  One  result  of 
these  open-air  services  has  been,  that  a 
greatly  increased  number  of  men  have 
come  forward,  asking  the  question,  "  What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved .''" 

On  the  nights  of  Thursday  and  Friday, 
an  inquirers'  meeting  for  men  only  was 
held  in  Ward  Chapel ;  and  so  encouraging 
has  been  the  immediate  outcome  in  the 
number  of  the  anxious,  that  at  Mr.  Moody's 
suggestion  special  evangelistic  services  for 
men  are  to  be  carried  on  nightly  for  the 
next  fortnight.  A  large  staff  of  male 
Christian  workers  have  promised  to  assist 
in  carrying  on  this  special  effort. 

On  the  afternoons  of  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  Mr.  Moody  held  a  Bible-read- 
ing in  Free  St.  Paul's,  which  was  so 
crowded  on  the  second  day  that  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  hold  the  meeting  on 
Friday  in  Kinnaird  Hall.  Long  before 
the  hour  of  meeting  this  spacious  room  was 
crowded  even  to  excess. 

On  Friday  night  a  meeting  was  held  in 
Chapelshade  of  -those  who  have  recently 
professed  faith  in  Christ.  There  was  a 
large  attendance.  The  young  disciples 
were  suitably  counseled  and  affectionately 
admonished  by  Mr.  Sankey,  who  presided 
at  the  service. 

On  Sa';urday  Messrs,  Moody  and  Sankey 


left  for  Aberdeen.  TJiis  second  visit  has 
been  much  appreciated,  and  has  given  a 
fresh  impulse  to  the  work.  It  has  also 
served  to  make  it  abundantly  evident  that 
the  work  of  grace  has  been  going  on  qui- 
etly and  steadily  in  this  town  and  neigh- 
borhood during  recent  months.  The  ordi- 
nary channels  of  worship  and  work  are  full 
of  the  river  of  God — in  some  cases,  in- 
deed, full  to  overflowing.  The  pulse  ot 
Christian  life  in  this  city  is  beating  more 
strongly  and  healthfully  than  it  has  done 
for  many  a  day.  It  is  now  plain  enough 
that  the  blessing  will  be  largely  permanent 
and  abundantly  productive.  A  thousand 
earnest  souls  are  longing  and  praying  for 
greater  and  still  greater  things.  The  im- 
petus given  to  Christian  work  in  all  its  de- 
partments can  scarcely  be  over-estimated. 
This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  work 
among  the  young. 


ABERDEEN. 


Here  the  work  was  commenced  on 
Sabbath,  the  14th  of  June,  with  a  nine 
o'clock  meeting  for  Christian  workers,  ad- 
mission by  ticket.  There  were  3,00c- 
issued,  and  the  Music  Hall  was  quite  filled, 
every  available  place  being  occupied,  either 
sitting  or  standing.  Mr.  Moody,  after 
reading  a  small  portion  of  the  Scriptures, 
spoke  for  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour 
from  the  text,  "  Here  am  I ;  send  me." 
Mr.  Sankey,  assisted  by  a  most  efficient 
choir  of  male  and  female  voices,  effectively 
rendered  several  hymns,  among  which  the 
principal  were,  "  Hark,  the  voice  of  Jesus 
calling,"  "  Go,  work  in  my  vineyard,"  and 
"  Nothing  but  leaves."  The  meeting  was 
a  most  solemn  one,  and  the  audience  most 
attentive. 

The  evening  meeting,  at  5  p.  m.,  was  on 
the  Links,  in  the  natural  amphitheatre  of 
the  Broadhill,  where  a  platform  had  been 
erected  for  choir  and  speakers.  It  was 
here  that  the  deep  interest  in  these  gentle- 
men— arising,  of  course,  from  mixed  feel- 
ings of  curiosity,  or  desire  to  know  more 
of  that  better  way  of  which  they  speak — . 
showed  itself.  One  may  be  allowed  to  say 
that  the  town  was  moved  to  come,  and  see, 
and  hear.  Some  10,000  were  in  position 
before  and  around  the  platform  long  be- 
fore the  hour  of  meeting;  and  yet  from 
before  five  till  past  six  there  were  continu- 
ous streams  of  men,  women,  and  children 
from   the   city,  Footdee,   Woodside,   Old 


64 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Aberdeen,  and  as  far  as  Dyce,  flowing  to 
the  one  point  on  the  Broadhill.  There 
could  not  have  been  fewer  than  20,000  to 
22,000  on  the  Links  that  evening.  Mr. 
Moody  spoke  from  the  words,  "  The  wages 
of  sin  is  death,"  and  was  listened  to  with 
rapt  attention,  while  the  hymns  were  dis- 
tinctly heard  over  the  vast  crowds  in  the 
stillness  of  a  quiet  summer  evening. 

The  next  meeting  was  announced  for 
eight,  in  the  Music  Hall,  but  it  being  fill- 
ed before  seven,  Mr.  Moody  began  at  that 
hour,  speaking  on  the  subject  of  the  prod- 
igal son.  There  was  much  power.  The 
chief  hymns  were,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth," 
"  Come  home,"  and  "Almost  persuaded." 
There  were  many  inquirers.  The  crowd 
outside  was  very  great,  and  Free  West 
Trinity  and  the  Baptist  Chapel,  Crown 
Street,  had  to  be  opened,  and  were  more 
or  less  filled  ;  while  several  ministers  con- 
ducted an  open-air  service  in  one  of  the 
squares.  We  have  never  at  any  time,  I 
may  say,  seen  the  city  so  moved  as  it  was 
this  day. 

On  Monday  a  meeting  was  held  in  the 
South  Parish  Church,  with  a  prayer-meet- 
ing at  3  p.  M.  Amongst  the  audience  there 
were  between  twenty  and  thirty  ministers 
of  various  denominations.  In  the  evening 
a  meeting  was  held  in  the  South  Parish 
Church. 

Two  hours  before  the  time  announced 
for  commencing  the  meeting  in  the  South 
Parish  Church,  a  crowd  had  gathered  at 
the  door,  and  no  sooner  was  admission 
gained  than  every  seat  and  corner  of  the 
large  church  began  to  be  rapidly  filled. 
It  was  soon  seen  that  the  numbers  waiting 
outside  could  not  gain  admission  into  the 
church,  and  provision  was  immediately 
made  for  having  an  open-air  meeting  in 
the  quadrangle  of  Marischal  College.  Mr. 
Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  arrived  about  half- 
past  seven,  and  prayer  having  been  led, 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  already  well-known 
hymn,  "  Hold  the  Fort,"  the  choir  and  the 
audience  joining  heartily  in  the  chorus. 
Mr.  Moody  read  a  portion  of  tenth  chap- 
ter of  Luke,  the  story  of  the  good  Samari- 
tan, and  in  a  few  sentences  drew  a  vivid 
resemblance  between  it  and  the  mission 
of  Christ  to  wounded  sinners.  The  read- 
ing was  followed  by  the  singing  of  a  hymn 
by  Mr.  Sankey.  "  The  Lost  Sheep  "  was 
the  subject  of  the  hymn,  and  it  was  ren- 
dered in  such  a  peculiarly  appropriate 
style  that  the  visible  effect  on  the  audience 
was  something  remarkable. 


A  short  supplication  for  a  blessing  on 
the  meeting  was  offered  by  Mr.  Moody, 
who  then  said  he  would  call  their  atten- 
tion for  a  short  time  to  the  text  in  the 
second  chapter  of  Luke,  "  Behold  I  bring 
you  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall 
be  to  all  people,  for  unto  you  is  born  this 
day  a  Saviour." 

Mr.  Moody  only  spoke  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  and  by  this  time  Mr.  Sankey  and 
a  portion  of  the  choir  had  gone  to  the 
quadrangle,  where  there  was  a  consider- 
able gathering.  A  verse  of  a  psalm  was 
sung  in  the  church,  and  Mr.  Moody  pro- 
ceeded to  the  o"pen-air  meeting,  the  entire 
congregation  following  him.  By  the  time 
he  got  on  the  platform  between  4,000  and 
5,000  had  gathered  in  the  square. 

No  sooner  was  the  concourse  of  people 
comparatively  quiet  than  Mr.  Moody 
wished  to  hear  them  all  sing  the  looth 
Psalm,  after  which  he  began  to  speak  from 
the  text  in  Mark  xvi.,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  The  audience  before  him  was 
of  a  much  more  miscellaneous  nature  than 
any  of  his  previous  ones,  a  goodly  number 
having  been  drawn  apparently  from  the 
Guestrow  and  Gallowgate,  to  whom  Mr. 
Moody  directed  his  special  attention,  ad- 
dressing them  with  a  ready  familiarity. 
He  expressed  himself  greatly  pleased  with 
the  character  of  the  meeting;  he  liked 
open-air  meetings  on  week  days,  because 
all  kinds  of  people  could  come  to  them, 
while  no  doubt  a  good  many  came  all  eyes 
and  mouths  open  for  curiosity's  sake.  The 
text  he  had  chosen  was  an  open-air  one, 
and  commanded  them  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature,  and  in  a  few  sentences 
he  pointed  out  how  comprehensive  was 
this  injunction  of  the  Saviour's.  Through- 
out both  his  evening  discourses,  Mr.  Moody 
showed  a  wonderful  fitness  for  adapting 
the  circumstances  around  him  to  illustrate 
his  meaning,  thereby  giving  a  kind  of  per- 
sonal interest  to  what  he  was  saying.  His 
address  lasted  about  the  same  time  as  the 
one  in  church,  and  at  its  conclusion  he 
intimated  that  a  prayer-meeting  would  be 
held  in  the  Free  High  Church  for  about 
half  an  hour.  While  this  meeting  was  go- 
ing on,  those  who  desired  private  conver- 
sation retired  to  the  hall  below. 

The  prayer-meeting  was  continued  in 
the  church  by  several  clergymen,  and  did 
not  break  up  until  after  ten  o'clock ;  the 
inquirers'  meeting  lasted  a  good  time 
longer. 


FORFARSHIRE—  TAIN. 


65 


FORFARSHIRE. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  continued 
their  labors  for  two  weeks  in  Aberdeen, 
and  from  thence  paid  a  flying  visit,  all 
they  could  find  time  for,  to  Montrose, 
Brechin,  Forfar,  and  Arbroath.  In  each 
place  all  their  meetings  were  densely 
crowded,  although  they  were,  for  the  most 
part,  held  in  the  very  large  Parish  Churches. 
At  Montrose,  as  in  all  the  other  towns,  the 
earnest  ministers  and  Christian  people  of 
the  place  had  been  making  many  prayer- 
ful efforts  to  awaken  special  interest  in 
divine  things  in  this  time  of  blessing. 

In  Brechin  next  day  they  held  two 
meetings,  which  none  of  us  who  had  the 
joy  of  being  present  at  them  can  ever  for- 
get. Both  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey 
seemed  to  be  peculiarly  happy  and  at 
home  in  this  town,  and  to  speak  and  sing 
with  even  more  than  their  wonted  tender- 
ness and  power.  We  had  hoped  for  an 
open-air  meeting,  both  here  and  in  Ar- 
broath, but  Mr.  Moody  felt  unequal  to 
that  effort,  having  hurt  his  voice  in  one  of 
our  northern  mists. 

The  second  meeting  was  at  half-past 
two,  in  the  Parish  Church,  which  could  not 
nearly  hold  all  who  would  fain  have  heard 
tjie  strangers.  The  schools  of  the  town 
had  a  half-holiday,  that  masters  and  pupils 
might  be  present,  and  all  the  factory  work- 
ers who  chose  were  also  given  leave  of 
absence  to  attend  the  meeting.  Many  of 
these  last  were  present  in  their  working 
clothes,  and  bareheaded.  Two  of  the 
ministers  led  in  prayer.  One  prayer  was 
specially  on  behalf  of  Lord  Dalhousie, 
since  deceased,  who  lay  very  ill  almost 
under  the  shadow  of  the  ancient  church, 
where  more  than  2,000  lifted  up  their 
hearts  on  his  behalf. 

Mr.  Moody  preached  for  an  hour  with 
great  power  on  the  words,  "  Ye  must  be 
born  again  ;"  and  after  this  meeting  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  hurried  off  to  Forfar, 
where  they  addressed  another  large  gath- 
ering, called  together  on  a  few  hours'  no- 
tice, in  the  very  large  Parish  Church  of 
that  town. 

Next  day,  Thursday,  July  2d,  our  Ameri- 
can friends  proceeded  to  Arbroath,  with 
their  usual  unflagging  energy,  and  I  had 
the  privilege  of  being  again  with  them. 
They  addressed  two  meetings,  which  were 
both  held  in  the  Parish  Church,  as  the 
largest  place  to  be  had.  Mr,  Moody's 
state  of  voice  prevented  him  speaking  in  a 


third  meeting,  or  in  the  open  air,  as  had 
been  expected.  As  usual,  very  many  were 
disappointed  of  admissdon,  for  want  of 
room  ;  and  many  more,  as  I  know,  from 
the  country  district  round,  did  not  attempt 
to  be  present,  knowing  that  others  would 
be  filling  the  church  before  they  could 
arrive. 

At  the  evening  meeting  the  church  was 
even  more  crowded,  and  the  audience  in- 
cluded a  great  many  working  people.  Mr, 
Moody  preached  on  "  The  Son  of  Man  is 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost,"  and  the  present  writer  never  heard 
him  tell  the  message  of  divine  love  with 
greater  tenderness  or  power.  He  after- 
wards invited  inquirers  to  meet  him  in  a 
United  Presbyterian  Church  not  far  off; 
and  about  100,  including  about  40  chil- 
dren, did  so.  Both  then  and  since  there 
have  been  many  proofs  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  at  work  in  Arbroath. 

Evangelistic  services  have  been  held 
every  night  since  Mr.  Moody's  visit  to  the 
town,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  religi- 
ous interest  has  been  evinced  at  these. 
We  trust  much  prayer  will  be  offered  up 
by  God's  people  for  yet  greater  things  to 
be  seen  among  us  in  this  district. 


TAIN. 

On  Monday,  July  13th,  Mr.  Moody 
preached  to  a  very  large  audience  in  the 
Free  Church  at  half-past  one  on  Monday. 
Five  o'clock  was  the  hour  appointed  for 
the  open-air  meeting,  and  this  picturesque 
town  presented  an  aspect  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. The  special  trains  have  just  ar- 
rived ;  the  steep  way  from  the  station  is 
thronged  ;  vehicles  of  all  descriptions  ap- 
proach by  the  various  avenues  into  the 
town;  and  as  we  move  forward  to  the 
Academy  Park,  the  whole  population 
seems  astir,  moved  in  one  direction, 
drawn  by  one  impulse.  The  service  pro- 
ceeds. Mr.  Sankey  sings  the  solo,  "  The 
Lost  Sheep,"  accompanying  himself  on 
the  American  organ.  Every  eye  is  fixed  ; 
and  as  the  stirring,  earnest  statements  and 
appeals  of  Mr.  Moody  follow,  the  gaze  of 
curiosity  is  changed  into  the  intense  ear- 
nestness of  personal  interest.  It  is  the  old 
gospel,  yet  some  there  feel  it  as  they  never 
felt  it  before.  It  is  estimated  that  from 
4,000  to  5,000  were  present  at  this  meeting, 

At  seven  the  Free  Church,  capable  of 
containing  upwards  of  2,000,  was  densely 


66 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


crowded,  many  having  to  leave  for  want 
of  room.  About  half-past  eight  the  bene- 
diction was  pronounced,  after  a  most 
solemn  service,  and  Mr.  Moody  requested 
as  many  believers,  and  persons  knowing 
that  they  were  yet  unconverted,  but  who 
wished  to  find  Christ,  as  could  remain,  to 
do  so,  while  others  left. 

While  a  hymn  was  being  sung,  those 
who  had  to  leave  did  so  ;  others  gathered 
into  the  area  of  the  church,  and  the  doors 
were  shut.  There  were  some  moments  of 
silent  prayer,  and  then,  amid  deep  still- 
ness, Mr.  Moody  said,  "  We  are  all  friends 
here,  and  I  would  just  request  those  who 
believe  that  they  received  Christ  to-day, 
and  those  who  desire  to  receive  Him  now, 
to  stand  up,  that  we  may  pray  for  them." 
For  more  than  a  minute  all  was  still ;  then 
Mr.  Moody  said  slowly  as  one  after  ano- 
ther rose,  "  One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six, 
seven ;"  adding,  as  a  large  number  now 
arose,  "  More  than  I  can  count.  God  be 
praised!"  What  a  moment  was  that! 
"  God  be  praised  !"  was  the  language  of 
many  a  heart.  Till  eleven  o'clock  the 
church  was  an  inquiry-room,  Mr.  Moody, 
Mr.  Sankey,  many  ministers,  and  others 
being  engaged  in  pointing  souls  to  Christ ; 
and  many  professed  to  accept  God's  gift, 
and  to  enter  into  peace. 

Tuesday  being  wet,  meetings  were  held 
in  the  Free  Church  at  twelve  and  at  half- 
past  two.  The  church  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing on  both  occasions  ;  many  remain- 
ed in  the  church  during  the  interval,  sing- 
ing hymns,  while  some  ministers  were  con- 
versing with  anxious  ones.  At  the  after- 
noon meeting,  Mr.  Sankey  sang  several 
solos.  The  breathless  stillness — tearful 
eyes — testified  to  the  power  that  accom- 
panied these  sacred  songs.  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  with  a  peculiar  force  and  impress- 
iveness,  on  "  I  pray  thee,  have  me  excused." 

After  the  benediction,  very  many  re- 
mained ;  and  when  Mr.  Moody  again  ask- 
ed those  who  desired  to  be  saved  now  to 
stand  to  be  prayed  for,  about  500  stood 
up.  It  is  impossible  adequately  to  de- 
scribe the  scene — silence,  broken  only  by 
that  solemn  rising.  Very  many  were 
shedding  silent  tears — some  from  a  sense 
of  sin  and  danger,  others  from  joy  to  see 
the  Lord's  work.  One  minister,  who  has 
seen  much  in  connection  with  this  religi- 
ous movement,  lifted  his  head,  which  had 
been  bowed  in  prayer,  and  seeing  these 
hundreds  standing,  he  utterly  broke  down, 
and  wept  like  a  child. 


Mr.  Moody  addressed  the  anxious,  and 
then  stated  that  he  must  leave,  to  keep  an 
engagement  at  Inverness,  but  would  re- 
quest Mr.  Sankey  to  remain. 

Mr.  Sankey  and  many  ministers  and 
Christian  friends  continued  in  conversa- 
tion with  anxious  ones,  till  nearly  six 
o'clock. 

Men  and  women,  the  aged  and  the  little 
child,  were  there,  all  with  one  accord — 
seeking  Christ.  Some,  in  answer  to  in- 
quiries, stated  that  today,  for  the  first 
time,  they  had  felt  their  sin  and  danger ; 
others  had  been  seeking  for  twenty  years 
— others  for  ten  years,  ahd  various  periods. 

Those  who  know  the  reserve  and  shy- 
ness to  mention  what  is  personal  in  reli- 
gion, which  characterize  the  people  in  this 
quarter,  and  who  consider  that  many  of 
those  who  stood  for  prayer  were  well 
known  in  a  small  town,  will  be  best  able 
to  appreciate  the  power  that  could  over- 
come that  natural  reserve. 


HUNTLY. 


At  Huntley,  once  famous  for  its  reli- 
gious gatherings,  open-air  meetings  were 
held  in  Castle  Park  during  the  first  week 
of  July,  where,  as  soon  as  it  became  known 
that  the  services  of  the  American  evangel- 
ists had  been  secured,  a  largely  increased 
attendance  from  anything  ever  seen  in 
Pluntly  before  was  everywhere  confidently 
expected.  Nor  was  the  expectation  dis- 
appointed. Some  parties  actually  arrived 
on  Saturday,  worshiped  in  our  churches 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  attended  the  prepar- 
atory meetings.  At  an  early  hour  on 
Monday  the  people  from  neighboring 
parishes  came  flocking  in  from  all  direc- 
tions. All  sorts  of  vehicles  brought  their 
living  freights  of  both  sexes,  and  the  num- 
ber of  pedestrians  from  neighboring  local- 
ities was  altogether  unprecedented.  The 
village  of  Aberchirder  almost  emptied  it- 
self, and  we  understand  the  sam.e  may  be 
said  of  many  of  the  fishing  villages  along 
the  coast,  the  exodus  from  which  was  so 
great,  that  the  powers  and  resources  of 
the  "  innocent  railway"  were  most  severely 
tasked.  The  early  train  from  Keith 
brought  64  passengers  to  Huntly  at  6:40 
A.M.,  the  9:10  train  about  2,000,  while  tlie 
train  from  the  south,  which  arrives  here  at 
8:56,  brought  fully  3,000  to  the  meeting. 

Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  these 
trains,  the  streets  of  Huntly  presented  an 


NAIRN— EL  GIN 


67 


appearance  such  as  has  never  been  seen 
in  modern  times.  A  conference  was  in- 
tended to  be  held  in  the  Congregational 
Church,  but  so  great  was  the  crowd  anx- 
ious for  admission,  that  the  idea  had  to  be 
abandoned,  as  no  church  in  the  town 
would  have  contained  half  the  number  of 
those  wishing  to  be  present,  and  conse- 
quently the  forenoon  meeting  in  the  Park 
was  commenced  at  ten  o'clock,  instead  of 
eleven,  as  intended. 

At  this  meeting,  the  lowest  estimate  we 
have  heard  was  10,000,  some  maintaining 
there  were  12,000  on  the  ground.  In  the 
afternoon,  the  attendance  was  much  larger, 
numbers  having  arrived  by  the  mid-day 
trains,  and  also  from  the  country ;  and 
when  Mr.  Moody  was  addressing  the  as- 
semblage, it  was  computed  he  was  speak- 
ing to  at  least  15,000  people,  some  assert- 
ing that  the  number  was  little  short  of 
20,000.  Notwithstanding  the  vastness  of 
the  crowd,  which,  by  the  way,  were  stand- 
ing very  closely  packed  together,  Mr. 
Moody  was  most  distinctly  heard  at  its 
utmost  limits. 

At  the  evening  meeting,  the  attendance, 
though  a  considerable  falling  off  from 
what  it  was  in  the  forenoon,  was  large. 
Mr.  Moody  began  by  giving  some  account 
of  his  own  experience,  and  proceeded  to 
explain  the  nature  of  faith,  showing  that 
the  reason  of  men's  condemnation  was, 
"  that  they  spurned  the  remedy."  His 
distinction  between  "  I  will  not "  and  "  I 
cannot "  was  well  illustrated,  and  seldom 
has  it  been  our  fortune  to  listen  to  a 
clearer  or  simpler  exposition. 

After  Mr.  Sankey  had  led  in  singing 
the  40th  Psalm,  Dr.  Black,  at  the  request 
of  Mr.  Moody,  gave  an  exceedingly  im- 
pressive address  from  Gal.  ii.  20.  The 
meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  Parish 
Church. 

After  a  short  address  on  the  nature  and 
scripturalness  of  inquiry-meetings,  Mr. 
Moody  invited  the  audience  to  sing  a 
hymn  standing,  to  give  inquirers  an  oppor- 
tunity of  stepping  into  the  inquiry-room, 
and  a  few  complied.  Mr.  Moody,  we  con- 
fess, startled  us  when  he  said  that  the 
vestry  of  the  Established  Church  was 
built  for  the  very  purpose,  but  it  was  a 
goodly  sight  to  see  it  turned  to  such  a  use. 


NAIRN. 


On  Tuesday,  July  21st,  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  were  at  Nairn.     Their  visit 


was  preceded  by  prayer  to  God  for  an  out 
pouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  many  of  the 
Christians  were  looking  for  much  blessing. 
Mr.  Moody  presided  at  tv/elve  o'clock  in 
the  U-  p.  Church.  Long  before  the  time 
announced  that  the  service  should  begin, 
the  building  was  crowded.  Mr.  Moody 
gave  a  short  address  on  the  three  kinds  of 
Christians — Asking,  Seeking,  and  Knock- 
ing. Mr.  Sankey  sang,  "  Keep  praying  at 
the  Door." 

A  Bible-reading  took  place  in  the  Free 
Church  at  three  o'clock,  and  at  half-past 
six  Mr.  Moody  addressed  an  audience  of 
not  less  than  five  thousand,  on  the  Links, 
on  the  verse,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
At  eight  o'clock,  upwards  of  one  thousand 
filled  the  Free  Church,  where  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  for  half-an-hour,  giving  a  question 
to  each  soul.  Am  I  saved,  or  am  I  lost } 
Mr.  Moody  asked  those  who  wished  to  be 
prayed  for  to  stand  up,  when  many  did  so, 
and  solemn  indeed  it  was  to  see  in  the 
same  pew  some  who  stood  up  to  show  that 
they  wished  to  be  saved,  while  those  next 
to  them  sat  still.  An  inquiry-meeting  was 
held  at  the  close,  and  about  sixty  or  more 
were  conversed  with,  while  many  retired 
to  their  homes  with  an  arrow  in  their 
hearts.  Some  professed  to  close  with 
Jesus,  and  some  left  undecided  for  the 
Lord.  Mr.  Moody  and  his  fellow-laborer 
left  for  Elgin  next  morning,  while  the  ser- 
vices are  being  carried  on  by  the  minis- 
ters in  town  and  an  evangelist.  The  in- 
quiry-meeting on  Wednesday  evening  was 
still  more  interesting,  many  professing  to 
close  with  Jesus.  The  whole  town  is  be- 
ing moved. 


ELGIN. 


The  Elgin  Courier  devotes  two  columns 
to  the  two  days'  visit  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  to  that  ancient  town,  where 
meetings  were  held  with  results  similar  to 
those  which  have  attended  them  else- 
where. 

Last  evening,  23d,  at  seven  o'clock, 
an  open-air  meeting  was  held  on  Ladyhill. 
The  weather  was  very  favorable.  Nearly 
all  the  shops  on  the  High-street  were  shut 
at  about  seven  o'clock.  The  sun,  as  he 
sank  to  rest  in  the  west,  shed  his  dying 
glory  over  the  most  picturesque  scene  on 
the  hill-side.  It  was  estimated  by  some 
that  there  were  between  five  and  six  thou- 
sand persons  present,  it  being  the  largest 


68 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


gathering  of  the  kind  we  ever  remember 
having  seen  in  Elgin.  Tempted  by  the 
fine  evening,  all  classes  of  the  people  turn- 
ed out,  many  arriving  from  all  parts  of  the 
surrounding  districts.  At  the  foot  of  the 
hill  a  platform  was  erected,  which  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  choir  and  speakers.  The 
whole  hill-side,  for  a  great  distance  up  and 
round  about,  was  covered  with  the  dense 
multitude,  that  presented,  with  their  varied 
dresses,  a  most  imposing  spectacle.  On 
the  Market  Green  there  were  also  a  large 
number  of  people. 

The  meeting  having  been  opened  with 
praise  and  prayer,  Mr.  Moody  spoke  for 
about  an  hour  on  the  words,  "  Ye  must  be 
born  again,"  with  characteristic  earnest- 
ness and  graphic  description.  Several 
hymns  were  then  sung,  after  which  the 
meeting  was  dismissed,  it  being  intimated 
that  another  would  be  held  in  the  Parish 
Church,  for  which  there  was  a  great  rush. 
The  gates  having  been  opened,  the  church 
seats  were  completely  filled  in  a  few  min- 
utes. The  meeting  was  devoted  to  praise 
and  prayer,  Mr.  Moody  leaving  to  speak 
with  the  anxious  in  the  New  Evangelistic 
Hall. 

Such  a  Sabbath-day  as  the  last  one  we 
have  never  seen  in  Elgin.  During  the 
intervals  between  the  different  meetings, 
our  streets  were  thronged  with  people 
from  all  parts  of  the  surrounding  districts, 
of  all  classes,  "  set  out,"  of  course,  in  Sun- 
day attire.  The  number  of  people  from 
the  coast  towns — Lossiemouth,  Hopeman, 
Burghead,  Garmouth,  Buckie,  etc.,  was 
also  (for  such  an  occasion)  unprecedently 
great. 

At  nine  o'clock  a  meeting  of  Sabbath- 
school  teachers  and  mission  workers  was 
held  in  the  Parish  Church.  It  was  thor- 
oughly representative  of  nearly  all  religious 
workers  in  the  town  and  district.  Most  of 
the  clergymen  of  the  town  were  present. 

Mr.  Moody's  address,  specially  given  to 
workers  in  the  Christian  field,  was  a  most 
practical  one,  and  was  all  through  power- 
fully illustrated  by  most  suitable  anecdotes, 
some  of  which,  owing  to  their  rather  face- 
tious nature,  produced  a  smile  on  the  faces 
of  those  present. 

At  half-past  one  o'clock,  Mr.  Moody 
preached  in  the  Established  Church,  which 
was  crowded  to  the  utmost  extent. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  fare- 
well open-air  meeting  was  held  on  Lady- 
hill,  which  was,  literally  speaking,  one  huge 
black  mass.     For  about  an  hour  or  so  be- 


fore the  time  of  meeting  a  perfect  stream 
of  people  kept  pouring  onwards  up  the 
High-street  towards  the  hill.  Ere  the 
hour  had  arrived,  the  crowd  had  grown 
densely  large.  There  were  between  7,000 
and  8,000  persons  present. 

Mr.  Moody  arrived,  with  Mr.  Sankey, 
about  five  o'clock.  The  first  four  verses 
of  the  40th  Psalm  were  sung,  Mr.  Sankey 
leading.  Nothing  could  have  been  more 
beautiful  or  soul-inspiring  than  to  hear  the 
sound  of  the  fine  old  tune  "  Evan,"  which 
reverberated  from  the  hill-side.  After  prayer 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  The  Lost  Sheep."  Mr. 
Moody  then  spoke  from  Luke  iv.  16.  As 
he  concluded,  the  weather  cleared  up,  and 
the  scene  was  considerably  enlivened  and 
brightened  by  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Mr. 
Sankey  sang,  "  I  am  coming.  Lord,"  the 
people  joining  with  him.  Prayer  was  then 
offered,  after  which  Mr.  Moody  intimated 
that  meetings  would  be  held  in  the  Parish 
Church  and  the  Free  High  Church  after 
the  open-air  one  was  dismissed.  The 
crowd  then  separated. 

In  a  short  time  both  Parish  and  Free 
Churches  were  filled.  In  the  Parish 
Church  an  able  and  appropriate  address 
was  given  by  Mr.  Moody  on  the  words, 
"  Son,  remember,"  Mr.  Sankey  singing  a 
very  beautiful  hymn.  At  the  after-meet- 
ing a  large  number  of  anxious  inquirers 
stayed,  something  like  seventy-seven  per- 
sons standing  up,  expressing  by  so  doing 
their  wish  to  become  Christians.  The 
meetings  in  the  other  churches  were  equal- 
ly successful. 

A   SECOND  VISIT   TO   ELGIN. 

After  a  visit  at  Banffshire  Mr.  Moody 
spent  another  day  at  Elgin,  and  there  was 
great  joy  on  Wednesday  afternoon  when  it 
was  flashed  through  the  country  side  that 
on  the  following  evening  there  was  to  be 
another  of  those  great  open-air  gatherings 
which  every  one  had  enjoyed  so  much. 
The  meeting  is  thus  described  : 

It  was  a  strange  contrast  last  Thursday ; 
at  five  o'clock,  in  the  busy  Show  at  Inver- 
ness, at  seven  in  the  streets  of  Elgin,  quiet 
at  all  times,  but  that  night  altogether  pas- 
sengerless  and  deserted.  Surely  some- 
thing unusual  was  going  on — the  streets 
abandoned,  the  house-doors  fast,  the  shops 
closed.  Through  half  a  mile  of  the  empty 
streets  ours  were  the  only  footsteps  that 
echoed  on  the  pavement,  and  everything 
was  silent  and  desolate  as  a  plague-stricken 


FAREWELL  MEETINGS  IN  ABERDEEN 


69 


city !  At  last,  just  on  the  verge  of  the 
town,  the  stillness  was  broken  by  the  dis- 
tant sound  of  a  voice,  and  the  turn  of  a 
lane  revealed  a  sight  which  time  can  never 
efface  from  the  memory.  There  stood  the 
inhabitants,  motionless,  breathless,  plague- 
stricken  indeed — plague-stricken  with  the 
plague  of  sin.  The  sermon  was  evidently 
half  over,  and  the  preacher,  with  folded 
arms,  leaned  over  the  wooden  rail  of  the 
rude  platform.  Oh,  the  sin  upon  these 
faces  round  him  !  How  God  was  search- 
ing the  heart  that  night  !  I  cannot  tell 
you  who  were  there,  or  how  many,  or  what 
a  good  choir  there  was,  or  what  Mr.  San- 
key  sang,  or  which  dignitary  prayed.  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  beautifully  the  sun 
was  setting,  or  how  fresh  the  background 
of  woods  looked,  or  how  azure  the  sky 
was.  But  these  old  men  penitent,  these 
drunkards  petrified,  these  strong  men's 
tears,  these  drooping  heads  of  women, 
these  groups  of  gutter  children,  with  their 
wondering  eyes !  Oh,  that  multitude  ot 
thirsty  ones — what  a  sight  it  was  !  What 
could  the  preacher  do  but  preach  his  best  1 
And  long  after  the  time  for  stopping  was  it 
a  marvel  to  hear  the  persuasive  voice  still 
pleading  with  these  Christless  thousands  1 
One  often  hears  doubts  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  producing  an  impression  in  the 
open  air,  but  there  is  no  mistake  this  time. 
No,  there  is  no  mistaking  these  long  con- 
centric arcs  of  wistful  faces  curving  around 
the  speaker,  and  these  reluctant  tears, 
which  conscious  guilt  has  wrung  from  eyes 
unused  to  weep.  Oh,  the  power  of  the 
living  Spirit  of  God  !  Oh,  the  fascination 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ !  Oh,  the  gladness 
of  the  old,  old  story  of  these  men  and 
women  hurrying  graveward  !  The  hun- 
dred-and-one  night  in  Glasgow  excepted, 
never  have  we  seen  the  Holy  Spirit's  near- 
ness more  keenly  realized.  These  thou- 
sands just  hung  spellbound  on  the  speak- 
er's lips.  It  seemed  as  if  he  daren't  stop, 
so  many  hungry  ones  were  there  to  feed. 
At  last  he  seemed  about  to  close,  and  the 
audience  strained  to  catch  the  last  solemn 
words  ;  when  the  preacher,  casting  his  eye 
on  a  little  boy,  seemed  moved  with  an 
overpowering  desire  to  tell  the  little  ones 
of  a  children's  Christ.  Then  followed  for 
fifteen  minutes  more  the  most  beautiful 
and  pathetic  children's  sermon  we  have 
ever  heard  ;  and  then,  turning  to  the  weep- 
ing mothers  and  fathers,  concluded  with  a 
last  tender  appeal,  which  must  have  sunk 
far  into  many  a  parent's  heart. 


INQUIRY-MEETINGS. 

Long  before  the  close  of  the  address  it 
was  evident  to  all  that  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  was  going  to  give  us  a  glorious 
reaping-time  that  night.  We  had  not,  in- 
deed, been  ten  minutes  on  the  ground, 
when  a  stranger  whispered,  in  the  very 
middle  of  the  address,  "  Will  you  come 
and  speak  to  a  woman  about  her  soul .?"  at 
the  same  time  pointing  out  a  drooping 
figure  standing  near,  with  face  buried  in 
her  shawl.  We  were  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, at  the  great  crowds  which  entered 
the  inquiry-meetings — in  one  church  for 
women,  another  in  a  large  hall  for  men, 
while  the  Christians  went  apart  by  them- 
selves to  another  church  to  pray.  The 
arrangements  connected  with  these  after- 
meetings  were  all  beautifully  managed, 
and  shortly  after  nine  o'clock  the  v/hole 
three  were  well  under  way.  The  women's  in- 
quiry-meeting was  supplied  with  relays  of 
workers  from  the  prayer-meeting.  The 
work  was  on  a  very  large  scale,  and  the 
workers'  report  was,  that  the  cases  were  of 
a  very  hopeful  character.  But  the  work 
amongst  the  men — and  this  is  a  splendid 
testimony  to  the  depth  and  reality  of  the 
impressions — were  even  on  a  larger  scale 
still ;  and  the  sight  in  the  Evangelistic 
Hall,  where  the  men's  inquiry-meeting  was 
held,  is  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  The 
whole  hall  was  filled  with  men,  broken  up 
into  little  groups  of  twos  and  threes,  talk- 
ing in  hushed  yet  earnest  voices  on  the 
great  subject  of  the  one  thing  needful ; 
while  behind,  in  the  committee-room,  half 
a  hundred  young  men  were  gathered  in 
prayer  for  their  groping  brothers.  Many 
of  these  had  themselves  but  newly  decided 
for  Christ,  and  were  the  fruit  of  the  week's 
meetings  for  men,  which  have  been  blessed 
by  God  far  above  all  expectation. 

It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  give  even  an 
approximate  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  bless- 
ing which  fell  upon  Elgin  on  Thursday 
night.  The  whole  of  Morayshire  has 
shared  it,  and  a  powerful  hold  has  been 
gained  in  nearly  every  farmhouse  and  vil- 
lage throughout  the  country  side. 


FAREWELL  MEETINGS  IN 
ABERDEEN. 

At  the  pressing  request  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
evangelistic  work  set  agoing  in  Aberdeen 


7° 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


some  months  ago,  Mr.  Moody  paid  a  fare- 
well visit  to  Aberdeen  in  August,  and 
addressed  several  meetings,  at  the  same 
time  taking  occasion  to  urge  on  to  greater 
zeal  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  good 
work.  Mr.  Sankey  has  been  obliged  to 
go  south  to  a  more  genial  temperature  to 
recruit  his  health,  but  Mr.  Moody  has 
wrought  on  since  he  left  Aberdeen,  in  dif- 
ferent districts  in  the  north,  almost  with- 
out ceasing ;  the  same  remarkable  results 
always  attending  his  labors. 

At  seven  o'clock,  Mr.  Moody  met  with 
a  large  body  of  young  converts  in  the 
Free  South  Church,  and  addressed  to 
them  a  few  parting  words.  He  spoke  on 
his  favorite  topic  of  "  Confessing  Christ," 
pleading  hard  with  those  who  had  lately 
come  to  Christ  to  come  boldly  forward  and 
confess  Him. 

The  Music. Hall  was  crowded  to  excess 
long  before  eight  o'clock,  the  hour  at 
which  Mr.  Moody  was  announced  to  give 
an  address,  the  passages,  orchestra,  and 
galleries  being  quite  packed.  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again  he  cannot  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,"  was  the  text  on 
which  Mr.  Moody  based  his  discourse. 
Christ  did  not  say  these  words  to  a  drunk- 
ard, to  a  thief,  to  a  harlot,  but  to  a  man 
who  in  our  days  would  be  made  a  D.D. 
or  an  LL.D. 

After  referring  to  the  often-doubted 
possibility  of  sudden  conversions  by  those 
who  could  not  understand  it,  even  al- 
though there  were  living  evidences  of  it 
before  them,  he  bade  the  meeting  farewell, 
with  the  hope  that  they  would  all  meet  on 
the  shores  of  eternity. 

Mr.  Moody  stayed  in  the  hall  convers- 
ing with  anxious  inquirers  until  about  ten 
o'clock,  when  he  drove  to  a  men's  meet- 
ing in  Trinity  Free  Church,  which  had 
gathered  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  Mr.  Moody  would  give  them  a 
farewell  address.  In  the  course  of  the  few 
sentences  he  spoke  to  them,  Mr.  Moody 
said  they  could  have  no  idea  of  the  influ- 
ence the  Aberdeen  men's  meetings  had 
had  in  other  places  he  had  visited.  In  all 
of  the  towns  the  example  of  Aberdeen  had 
been  followed,  and  large  bands  of  young 
men  were  enlisted  in  evangelistic  work. 


A  number  of  the  young  men  then  retir- 
ed with  Mr.  Moody  into  an  ante-room,  to 
hold  private  conversation  with  him,  and 
he  continued  to  converse  with  them  until 
it  was  time  for  him  to  go  and  prepare  for 
his  journey  to  Wick  by  steamer. 

MEETING    AT    CRAIG    CASTLE. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  an  open  air  evan- 
gelistic service  was  held  on  Craig  Castle 
lawn,  conducted  by  Mr.  Moody.  The 
weather  in  the  early  part  of  the  day  was 
very  unpropitious,  heavy  showers  descend- 
ing, with  brief  intervals,  until  four  p.m., 
when  the  rain  ceased,  and  it  continued 
fair  during  the  evening.  The  wet  detained 
not  a  few  at  their  homes,  no  doubt,  but 
most  of  those  who  came  seemed  to  have 
determined  to  be  present  in  any  case  ;  and 
by  five  o'clock  a  very  large  company — 
especially  taking  into  account  the  thinly- 
peopled  districts  from  which  they  had 
gathered — had  assembled  on  the  beautiful 
lawn  in  front  of  the  castle.  Every  valley 
and  hamlet  v/ithin  a  radius  of  ten  miles 
sent  its  company  in  gig,  cart,  or  afoot,  until 
at  five  o'clock  about  2,500  people  stood  on 
the  lawn.  The  gathering  resembled  some- 
what one  of  the  Covenanter  hill -side 
meetings,  save  that  while  the  Bibles  were 
still  present,  the  broadswords  were  alto- 
gether absent ;  and  the  rendezvous,  instead 
of  being  a  wild,  rocky  pass,  was  a  hospi- 
table castle,  with  its  fairy  dell  and  leaping 
linn,  celebrated  in  song,  and  known  as  one 
of  the  loveliest  spots  in  Scotland. 

The  beauty  of  the  scene  seemed  speci- 
ally to  move  Mr.  Moody,  who  referred  to 
it  again  and  again  in  his  discourse,  which 
was  one  of  peculiar  beauty,  power,  and 
pathos.  Standing  in  an  open  carriage 
placed  near  a  towering  tree,  the  preacher' 
spoke  for  nearly  an  hour  from  the  parable 
of  the  marriage  feast.  A  very  marked  im- 
pression was  produced,  and  many  retired 
at  the  close  of  the  service  for  conversation 
with  the  preacher  and  other  ministers  and 
friends. 

The  Craig  gathering  of  August,  1874, 
will,  we  believe,  be  ever  memorable  to  not 
a  few  as  "  the  beginning  of  days "  to 
them. 


THE    LAST    W^EEK     IN    SCOTLAND. 


During  the  last  days  of  August,  a  Fare- 
well Convention  was  held  at  Inverness. 
It  was  an  "all-day  meeting,"  each  hour 
being  devoted  to  a  special  subject. 

After  the  Convention,  Mr.  Moody  went 
down  the  Caledonian  Canal  to  Oban,  and 
there  on  Friday,  the  28th,  gave  an  address, 
with  much  apparent  blessing,  in  the  U.  P. 
Church.  There  had  been  much  prepara- 
tory work  in  the  town,  not  only  in  the 
open-air  meetings,  but  also  in  other  special 
services  ;  and  in  the  two  preceding  months 
the  Rev.  H.  Bonar  and  the  Rev.  A.  Bonar 
had  ministered  the  Word  in  the  Free 
Church.  From  Oban  Mr.  Moody  went  to 
Campbeltown,  by  way  of  Tarbert,  on  Loch 
Fyne,  and  remained  from  the  29th  till  the 
3d  September,  when  he  left  for  Rothesay, 
taking  the  Tarbert  route,  and  staying  at 
Ballinakill,  where  many  were  gathered 
from  various  ^arts  of  Kintyre  to  meet 
him.  His  work  at  Campbeltown  was  deep- 
ly interesting,  and  was  crowned  with  re- 
markable blessing.  He  commenced  on 
Sunday,  the  30th,  by  three  services ;  speak- 
ing first  to  workers,  then  on  the  blood,  and 
lastly  on  the  grand  command,  "  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature."  The  result  after  that 
last  address  was  most  striking.  Upwards 
of  fifty  stood  up  to  ask  to  be  prayed  for, 
and  to  declare  their  desire  to  be  Chris- 
tians. The  meeting  had  been  over-crowd- 
ed, and  some  went  to  the  Drill  Hall,  where 
the  gospel  was  preached  by  willing  help- 
ers ;  but  in  the  great  after-meeting  in  the 
church,  all  were  united,  and  it  was  felt  to 
be  a  time  of  wonderful  enlargement  and 
power.  On  the  three  following  days  the 
interest  was  deepened  at  successive  meet- 
ings ;  till  at  the  last,  on  Wednesday  night, 
when  Mr.  Moody  had  preached  on  God's 
invitation  and  man's  excuses,  a  very  large 
number  were  gathered  into  a  hall,  either 
as  converts  or  inquirers  ;  and  it  was  mani- 
fest that  much  fruit  had  been  gathered  to 
life  eternal.  The  work  now  is  laid  on  the 
hearts  of  some  who  are  striving  to  confirm 
the  souls  of  the  disciples ;  and,  as  one 
means,  it  has  been  arranged  to  have  a 
Converts'  Meeting  weekly,  similar  to  that 
in  Ewing  Place,  Glasgow. 


The  last  meeting  was  at  Rothesay,  and 
is  thus  described  : 

Meetings  for  special  prayer  and  evan- 
gelistic work  have  been  held  here  since 
the  middle  of  October  last  year.  These 
meetings  were  held  in  several  of  the 
churches  on  the  Sabbath  evenings ;  in  the 
Victoria  Hall,  and  latterly  in  the  Town 
Mission  Hall  on  week-day  evenings.  These 
services,  added  to  the  general  interest 
manifested  throughout  the  country  in  re- 
ligious things,  led  to  united  meetings  for 
prayer.  These  daily  meetings  were  brought 
to  a  close  about  the  end  of  Islay.  The 
meetings  in  the  Town  Mission,  however, 
were  continued  three  nights  weekly,  from 
the  14th  Dec.  last,  till  the  present  time, 
and  have,  we  believe,  been  blessed  to  not 
a  few.  There  have  been  marked  cases  of 
interest,  and  those  who  took  part  in  the 
meetings  have  been  greatly  refreshed  and 
encouraged,  while  week  by  week  they  were 
growing  more  "earnest  in  the  work.  The 
prayer-meeting  on  Saturday  evenings  has 
been  for  some  time  marked  as  possessed 
of  more  than  usual  interest. 

Several  requests  from  all  the  ministers 
and  office-bearers  in  town  were  sent  to 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  without  suc- 
cess until  last  week,  when,  on  returning 
from  Campbeltown  to  Greenock,  en  roiite 
for  Belfast,  Mr.  Moody  kindly  agreed  to 
spend  Thursday  evening  in  Rothesay.  As 
soon  as  the  telegram  to  this  effect  was  re- 
ceived, arrangements  were  at  once  made 
for  holding  one  or  more  meetings.  The 
news  soon  spread  through  the  town  and 
island,  and  it  was  speedily  evident  that 
one  building  would  be  insufficient  to  hold 
the  numbers  likely  to  attend.  According- 
ly it  was  arranged  to  hold  a  meeting  at 
seven  o'clock  in  the  West  Free  Church, 
and  a  second  meeting  in  the  East  Free 
Church  at  half-past  eight  o'clock.  Af- 
ter Mr.  Moody's  arrival,  it  was  found  . 
that  only  one  meeting  could  be  ad- 
dressed by  him,  and  a  change  of  arrange- 
ment had  accordingly  to  be  made — a 
change  at  first  regretted,  but  which  even 
tually  proved  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  all. . 
The  West  Free  Church,  being  the  largest 
building,  was  accordingly  selected,  and  by 


72 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


seven  o'clock  was  literally  packed — pass- 
ages, pulpit  stairs,  lobby,  etc.,  being  occu- 
pied by  a  dense  mass  of  human  beings. 
Mr.  Moody  arrived  at  half-past  seven, 
when  Rev.  Mr.  Thomson  took  the  chair, 
and  gave  out  the  43d  Psalm.  Rev.  Mr. 
Ross  read  several  requests  for  prayer,  after 
which,  the  Chairman  having  engaged  in 
prayer,  it  speedily  became  manifest  that 
the  atmosphere  of  the  church  was  such  as 
the  ordinary  means  of  ventilation  could 
not  remedy,  so  densely  was  it  packed. 
During  the  singing  of  two  hymns — "  God 
is  Love,"  and  "  Jesus  paid  it  all," — ar- 
rangements were  being  made  for  conduct- 
ing the  service  in  the  open  air. 

To  the  great  relief  of  many  in  the  church, 
and  to  the  intense  delight  of  hundreds  out- 
side, Mr.  Moody  intimated  that  the  re- 
mainder of  the  service  would  be  conducted 
by  the  sea-shore  on  the  Esplanade.  Here, 
in  a  few  minutes,  during  which  the  23d 
and  part  of  the  17  th  Psalms  were  being 
sung,  an  immense  throng  of  people,  num- 
bering not  fewer  than  3,000  persons,  had 
assembled  round  the  preacher.'  After  a 
short  prayer,  Mr.  Moody  preached  from 
Mark  xvi.  15  and  16.  For  fully  an  hour 
he  riveted  the  attention  of  his  large  au- 
dience, narrative,  metaphot,  parable,  illus- 
tration, and  appeal  following  each  other 
in  quick  succession  and  agreeable  variety. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  service  the  scene 
was  one  never  to  be  forgotten.     The  fir- 


manent  was  cloudless  and  myriads  of  stars 
shone  brilliantly  (for  by  this  time  night 
had  fully  set  in),  and  were  reflected  in  the 
Bay,  beyond  which  lay  the  Cowal  Hills 
dark  and  massive  in  the  distance.  Every 
now  and  again  the  houses  in  the  Gallow- 
gate  and  the  spire  of  the  West  Free 
Church  were  lit  up  by  flashes  of  sheet 
lightning.  The  Esplanade  with  its  thou- 
sands was  in  front  of  the  preacher.  Deep- 
ly impressed,  evidently,  with  the  position, 
the  scene,  and  the  circumstance  that  he 
was  addressing  probably  for  the  last  time 
a  Scottish  audience,  Mr.  Moody  conclud- 
ed a  discourse,  which  for  point  and  power 
we  have  not  heard  on  any  former  occasion 
surpassed.  It  was  evident  the  Spirit  of 
the  living  God  owned  the  truth,  for  when 
the  intimation  was  given  that  a  second 
meeting  would  be  held  in  the  church  for 
prayer  and  further  explanation  of  the  way 
of  life,  the  building  was  very  speedily  well- 
nigh  filled. 

An  inquiry-meeting  was  held  afterwards 
in  the  hall  adjoining  the  church,  to  which 
a  large  number  of  persons  retired,  deeply 
impressed  with  the  concerns  of  the  soul. 
The  night  of  Thursday,  the  3d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1874,  will,  we  believe,  be  memorable 
in  the  history  of  manv  a  precious  soul, 
and  many  will  take  up  as  their  own  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist — "  The  Lord  hath 
done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are 
glad." 


THE  WORK  IN  IRELAND. 


BELFAST. 


I. 


Sept.  6,  1874. — These  beloved  and  hon- 
ored brethren  have  commenced  their  labors 
of  love  among  us  with  most  marked  tokens 
of  God's  smile  and  approval.  On  Sabbath 
morning,  the  6th  inst.,  the  first  meeting 
was  held  in  Dougall  Square  Chapel,  at  the 
early  hour  of  eight.  The  meeting  was  ex- 
clusively of  Christian  workers.  Long  be- 
fore the  hour  named,  the  chapel  was 
crowded.  The  meeting  was  conducted  in 
the  usual  way  by  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey.  Mr.  Moody  struck  the  key-note 
of  entire  devotedness  to,  and  unwearied 
labor  for,  the  Lord  Jesus.  All  present 
seemed,  in  silent  prayer,  to  lay  themselves 
upon  the  altar  afresh,  as  living  sacrifices 
to  the  service  of  God. 

The  second  meeting  was  advertised  to 
meet  at  1 1 :  30,  in  Fisherwick  Place  spaci- 
ous church.  The  desire  to  hear  had 
crowded  the  church  long  before  that  hour, 
many  going  away  unable  to  obtain  admis- 
sion. Mr.  Sankey  led  the  praise.  Mr. 
Moody  chose  as  his  subject,  "  Love." 
The  impression  upon  the  minds  of  multi- 
tudes was  very  deep.  Many,  we  feel  per- 
suaded, tasted  in  fresh  power  of  the  love 
of  God,  and  had  their  love  drawn  out  to 
Him  who  first  loved  us. 

Still  a  third  meeting  remained,  adver- 
tised to  be  held  at  7  p.  m.,  in  the  largest 
church  in  Belfast,  capable  of  holding 
2,000.  It  is  considered  that  not  above 
one-fourth  of  the  people  who  crowded  the 
streets  around  the  building  were  able  to 
gain  admission.  During  the  service  there 
were  visible '  signs  of  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  At  the  second 
meeting  many  anxious  sinners  remained 
for  conversation.  Not  a  few  professed  to 
accept  the  offered  gift  of  God,  from  the 
hand  of  His  promise,  even  His  only-begot- 
ten Son. 

The  daily  prayer-meeting  was  com- 
menced in  Dougall  Street  Chapel,  on 
Monday,  at  twelve.  The  chapel  was  so 
over-crowded,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
adjourn  next   day   to   a  more  capacious 


building,  capable  of  holding  1,400  people. 
This  "  sweet  hour  of  prayer  "  is  the  centre 
of  the  whole  movement,  and  has  already 
proved  a  blessing  to  many.  On  Monday 
evening  the  evangelistic  meeting  was  held 
in  Rosemary  Street  Church.  It  was,  we 
believe,  a  most  blessed  and  fruitful  one. 
But  the  crowd  was  so  great,  and  causing 
such  inconvenience,  as  to  induce  Mr. 
Moody  to  alter  his  plans  somewhat,  and 
during  the  succeeding  days  of  the  week  he 
has  held  a  meeting  at  two  p.  M.  exclusively 
for  women,  in  Fisherwick  Place  Church, 
capable  of  holding  1,400  people  and  up- 
wards, and  a  meeting  in  the  evening  in  the 
other  church  exclusively  for  men.  The 
Lord  has  greatly  blessed  the  arrangement. 
The  meeting  at  two,  for  women,  has  been 
crowded  each  day.  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  has  been  present  to  heal.  Each  day 
increasing  numbers  remain  to  be  spoken 
to  about  their  souls,  and  many  profess  to 
have  entered  into  rest  through  faith  in 
Jesus. 

The  same  report  is  true  of  the  meeting 
for  men.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  taking  of 
the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them  to 
very  many.  The  meeting  last  night  was 
particularly  solemn.  The  work  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  seemed  more  deep  and  clear, 
and  many  professed  to  accept  the  offered 
Saviour. 

The  Christian  community  has  been 
deeply  stirred  ;  we  are  filled  with  expecta- 
tion ;  we  are  looking  for  great  things. 
The  work  of  the  time  seems  to  be  fully 
more  extensive  and  deep  than  in  any  place 
visited  by  these  brethren. 


11. 

The  work  has  had  a  good  commence- 
ment in  Belfast.  Numbers  thronged  and 
crushed  to  the  churches,  so  much  so  that 
the  happy  plan  was  adopted  of  dividing 
the  meetings,  and  holding  gatherings  for 
women  only  at  two  o'clock,  and  for  men 
only  at  eight  o'clock.     Consequently,  the 


74 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


large  churches  are  well  filled,  without  any 
unseemly  disorder. 

On  Friday  (nth)  Mr.  Moody  addressed 
both  meetings,  taking  for  his  text,  "  The 
Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  ^^hich  was  lost."  With  great  power 
and  aptitude  he  proclaimed  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  the  "  Seeker ;"  and  very  touch- 
ingly  he  convinced  the  people  that  He  was 
now  seeking  each  individually,  seeking  to 
save  and  to  bless  them.  Mighty  Faith, 
then,  appears  to  be  the  secret  of  Mr. 
Moody's  power.  On  the  hearers  he  urges 
DECISION,  now  to  believe,  instant  salvation 
on  faith  in  Jesus  only.  His  address  was 
interspersed  with  telling  illustrations, 
which  came  right  home  to  every  heart. 
He  rapidly  referred  to  the  parable  of  the 
lost  sheep  and  lost  piece  of  silver,  and 
graphically  narrated  the  sudden  conver- 
sion of  Zaccheus,  unmistakably  evidenced 
by  the  immediate  fruit  of  the  Spirit  in  his 
change  from  an  extortioner  to  a  restitutor. 
Mr.  Sankey's  very  sweet  solos  and  touch- 
ing hymns,  accompanied  on  the  American 
harmonium,  seemed  to  exercise  a  power- 
ful effect  in,  as  it  were,  deepening  the  im- 
pression of  the  Word. 

The  large  church  of  the  Rev.  H.  M. 
Williamson,  which  holds  2,000,  was  filled 
with  women  of  all  classes  ;  and  the  one  in 
Rosemary  Street,  which  holds  1,500,  had 
every  seat  occupied  with  men.  They  were 
mostly  shopkeepers  and  mechanics,  and  a 
large  proportion  such  as  do  not  regularly 
attend  churches.  After  the  evening  meet- 
ing, the  Christians  were  invited  to  remain 
and  pray  for  the  speakers  to  the  anxious; 
and  the  inquirers  were  directed  to  side 
apartments,  of  which  several  were  filled 
with  those  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  was  con- 
vincing of  sin,  and  of  the  need  of  the  seek- 
ing Saviour.  Thus,  while  such  a  glorious 
work  as  has  been  witnessed  in  Scotland, 
has  not  yet  taken  place  in  Belfast,  a  sweet 
and  encouraging  commencement  has  been 
made. 

III. 

The  interest  in  both  meetings  is  deep- 
ening and  extending.  It  is  certainly  a 
marvelous  sight,  "  filling  the  mouth  with 
laughter,  and  the  tongue  with  singing,"  to 
see  the  crowded  meetings  of  women  of  all 
ranks  and  classes,  as  they  listen  with  rapt 
attention  to  the  message  of  mercy;  to 
mark  the  manifestations  of  deep  feeling 
and  subdued  emotion  visible  everywhere, 


and  the  numbers  willing  to  remain  in 
the  inquiry-meeting  for  conversation  and 
prayer. 

The  interest  in  the  meeting  in  the 
evening  is  increasing  equally.  It  is  dan- 
gerous and  unprofitable  to  speak  of  num- 
bers ;  but  one  may  say  with  confidence 
that  from  fifty  to  a  hundred,  at  least,  re- 
main each  evening,  under  anxiety  of  soul, 
desiring  to  be  pointed  to  the  Lamb  of  God 
who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 
These  are  found  of  all  classes,  and  of  all 
shades  of  moral  and  religious  character — 
backsliders,  notorious  sinners,  moral  young 
men,  whose  consciences  are  yet  tender, 
and  skeptics,  whose  hearts  have  been 
blasted  as  by  an  east  wind.  The  majority 
of  the  inquirers  are  young  men.  This  is  a 
special,  and  I  may  add  a  most  hopeful,  fea- 
ture of  the  work.  Many  seem  clearly,  in 
the  judgment  of  man,  to  have  embraced 
the  offered  gift,  and  to  be  rejoicing  in  God- 
On  Saturday,  the  12th,  there  was  held 
one  meeting — for  children — presided  over 
by  Mr.  Sankey.  The  meeting  was  most 
interesting,  and  crowded  with  earnest 
young  faces. 

On  Sabbath,  the  13th  inst.,  Mr.  Moody 
held  a  meeting  for  Christian  workers  at  the 
early  hour  of  eight,  and  notwithstanding 
the  hour  the  place  was  crowded,  so  much 
so  that  the  overflow  filled  an  adjoining 
room.  The  address  was  touching  entire 
consecration  to  God,  and  more  whole- 
hearted activity  in  His  service.  An  open- 
air  meeting  was  advertised  for  half-past 
two  o'clock.  It  was  held  in  an  open  space, 
in  the  midst  of  the  mill- workers  of  our 
town.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  thousands  who 
attended  that  meeting  will  ever  forget  it. 
Very  many,  I  believe,  will  remember  it 
with  joy  in  the  Father's  home  on  high. 
The  attendance  was  exceedingly  great,  es- 
timated variously  at  from  ten  to  twenty 
thousand  !  The  weather  was  exceedingly 
favorable.  Mr.  Moody's  address  was 
founded  upon  Mark  xvi.  15,  "  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature."  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  passeth  by."  While  he  did  so 
I  could  observe  in  the  glistening  eye,  and 
the  deep  sighs  of  many  around  where  I 
stood,  that  it  was  even  so. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Moody  held  a  meet- 
ing exclusively  for  -inquirers;  none  else 
were  admitted,  the  attendance  far  exceed- 
ing our  hope — upwards  of  three  hundred. 
All  human  computation  on  this  subject 
must  be  very  indefinite,  but  when  we  con- 


BELFAST. 


75 


sider  the  many  who  were  not  present,  see- 
ing that  the  evening  service  was  held  at 
the  same  hour  in  all  the  churches,  and  add 
also  the  numbers  at  inquiry-meetings  held 
in  many  of  the  churches,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  shaking  among  the  dry  bones 
has  been  already  very  great ;  in  Mr. 
Moody's  judgment,  fully  greater  than  dur- 
ing the  first  week  in  any  other  place. 

The  attendance  at  the  meetings  on  Mon- 
day, 14th,  seem  to  be  on  the  increase.  At 
the  meeting  for  women  in  Fisherwick  Place 
there  were  present  about  fifteen  hundred, 
and  at  the  meeting  for  inquirers  a  marked 
increase ;  more,  indeed,  than  the  Christian 
workers  present  could  overtake. 

As  time  advanced,  this  gracious  work  of 
God  seems  to  extend  and  deepen  rapidly. 
On  Tuesday  the  experiment  was  tried  of 
holding  a  meeting  in  the  evening  exclu- 
sively for  women,  in  order  to  reach  the 
case  of  workers  in  mills  and  warehouses. 
More  than  an  hour  before  the  time  of 
meeting,  the  streets  around  were  packed 
with  a  dense  mass  of  women ;  and  when 
the  gates  were  opened  the  place  was  filled 
almost  in  a  moment;  and  after  that,  with 
the  overflow,  three  large  churches.  In  all 
these  meetings,  the  anxious,  willing  to  be 
.spoken  to,  were  more  than  could  be  over- 
taken. We  have  reached  a  blessed  diffi- 
culty— our  inability  to  find  Christian  work- 
ers in  sufficient  number,  who  are  able  and 
willing  to  point  the  seeking  sinner  to  the 
Lamb  of  God. 

The  number  of  strangers  who  from  long 
distances  visit  Belfast  to  attend  the  mid- 
day meetings  is  daily  increasing.  In  this 
way  the  work  is  already  extending,  and,  I 
trust,  will  cover  the  whole  island.  At  its 
present  stage  of  progress,  the  most  marked 
features  are  desire  to  hear  the  Word  of 
God,  willingness  to  be  spoken  to  upon  the 
state  of  the  soul,  frank  confession  on  the 
part  of  many  that  they  do  not  savingly 
know  Jesus ;  and,  most  blessed  of  all,  the 
equally  frank  confession  on  the  part  of 
many  that  they  have  "  found  Him  of  whom 
Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did 
write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 

Last  night  (Thursday,  17  th,)  the  num- 
ber waiting  to  be  spoken  to  was  so  great 
that  an  attempt  to  speak  to  each  individu- 
ally was  scarcely  made.  Two  or  three  ad- 
dresses were  given  in  the  way  of  pointing 
them  to  the  Lamb  of  God. 

To-day  (Friday,  i8th,)  the  mid-day 
meeting  is  solely  for  professing  Christians 
— the  subject,  "  Assurance."     In  the  even- 


ing the  meeting  is  intended  for  such  only 
as  are  seeking  Jesus.  Mr.  Moody  has 
adopted  these  expedients  because  of  the 
want  of  any  hall  or  building  sufficient  to 
contain  the  crowds  seeking  admission. 
Let  me  venture  to  suggest  to  any  of  your 
readers  who  live  in  cities  likely  to  be  vis- 
ited by  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  the 
wisdom  of  erecting  a  temporary  structure, 
if  there  is  no  suitable  place.  It  would 
save  the  strength  of  these  beloved  breth- 
ren greatly,  and  help  to  concentrate  at  first 
the  work. 

It  is  a  very  hopeful  feature  of  the  work 
that  it  has  begun  to  spread  to  the  adjacent 
towns.  Meetings  have  been  held  by  others 
for  some  four  nights  in  Bangor,  ten  miles 
from  Belfast ;  and,  considering  the  size  of 
the  town,  the  work  there  was  equally 
great.  Thus  we  are  looking  forward  that 
the  work  shall  extend  over  the  whole  prov- 
ince, and  over  the  whole  island. 


IV. 

The  work  is  taking  deep  root  in  Belfast. 
We  may  confidently  expect  "  greater 
things"  in  Ireland.  At  the  inquiry-meet- 
ings there  are  larger  numbers  than  attended 
similar  gatherings  at  Edinburgh  or  Glas- 
gow at  the  same  period.  Over  300  anx- 
ious inquirers  remained  to  be  spoken  with 
at  the  inquiry-meeting  on  last  Sunday  even- 
ing. At  these  meetings  there  are  no  ad- 
dresses ;  they  are  announced  solely  for  in- 
quirers— none  others  are  invited  to  attend. 
It  is  not  an  unwonted  feature  to  find  men 
and  women,  young  and  old,  voluntarily 
flocking  to  meetings  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  inquiring  the  way  of  salvation  and  stat- 
ing their  perplexities. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  on  Monday 
was  devoted  to  accounts,  from  ministers 
and  others,  of  the  results  of  the  work  so 
far. 

Intense  calm  and  deep  earnestness  char- 
acterized all  the  meetings.  The  Holy 
Spirit  was  poured  out,  not  with  a  rushing 
wind,  but  in  a  still,  small  voice.  An  unu- 
sual proportion  of  fine  young  men  waited 
to  be  conversed  with  in  the  inquiry-rooms. 
All  seemed  to  feel  there  are  but  the  two 
classes,  the  saved  and  the  lost. 

Various  were  the  difficulties  felt  by  in- 
quirers, but  all  such  as  anxious  souls  have 
expressed  from  time  to  time.  Some  could 
not  understand  what  "  coming  to  Christ ' 
is ;  others  had  previously  come,  but  were 


76 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


staggered  because  they  had  not  the  com- 
plete mastery  of  sin  ;  others,  again,  had  not 
felt  a  sufficient  sense  of  danger.  Warm- 
hearted and  experienced  Christians  list- 
ened to  the  difficulties  of  each  and  all, 
and  were  in  most  cases  enabled  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  speak  the  suited  word  and 
*"emove  the  stumbling  blocks. 

The  open-air  meeting  in  Agnes  Street  at 
2:30  on  Sunday  was  attended  by  numbers 
variously  estimated  at  from  10,000  to  20,- 
000.  The  fundamental  truths  of  the  gos- 
pel were  forcibly  put  and  ably  illustrated. 
Many  were  bathed  in  tears.  Multitudes 
of  careless  men  and  women  have  been 
awakened. 

Singing  bears  a  most  important  part  in 
the  work  of  God.  Deeply  effective  are 
Mr.  Sankey's  solos,  not  only  in  touching 
the  heart's  affections,  but  in  deepening 
the  impressions  made  by  the  Word.  The 
solo,  "Too  Late,"  following  on  Mr. 
Moody's  address  on  the  despair  of  the  lost 
in  hell,  had  the  most  solemn  effect.  The 
wail,  "  Oh !  let  us  in,  oh !  let  us  in,"  and 
the  awful  resp9nse,  "  Too  late  !  too  late  ! 
you  cannot  enter  now,"  are  enough  _  to 
wring  the  inmost  soul  of  every  wavering 
and  undecided  sinner. 


V. 

The  second  week  of  the  labors  of  these 
beloved  brethren  has  closed.  As  we 
look  back  with  thanksgiving  and  wonder, 
we  can  only  exclaim,  "What  hath  God 
wrought !  "  The  meeting  of  Christian 
workers  Avas  held  on  Sabbath  morning 
(September  20),  at  eight,  in  May  Street 
Church.  Shortly  after  seven  the  place 
was  filled  with  an  audience  of,  say,  fifteen 
hundred,  and  the  overflow  filled  also  an 
adjoining  building.  It  is  surely  a  signifi- 
cant fact,  and  a  very  blessed  sight,  to  see 
hundreds  of  men  and  women  at  such  an 
early  hour  crowding  out  to  call  upon  God, 
and  to  be  addressed  upon  the  subject  of 
working  for  Jesus. 

An  open-air  meeting,  similar  to  the  one 
held  on  the  previous  Sabbath,  had  been 
arranged  for  two  o'clock.  The  weather 
in  the  morning  was  very  unpropitious ; 
but  by  noon  the  day  brightened  up,  and 
by  the  hour  of  meeting  it  was  all  that 
could  be  desired. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  estimate  the  num- 
ber who  heard  the  gospel  on  this  occasion. 
I  observe  a  friend  from  England,  who  was 


present  upon  the  previous  Sabbath,  esti- 
mates the  number  at  30,000.  Whatever 
the  number  may  have  been,  it  was  cer- 
tainly exceeded  on  last  Sabbath.  Mr. 
Moody  was  greatly  helped.  The  fruit  of 
the  seed  can  only  be  fully  seen  when  gath- 
ered at  that  day ! 

A  meeting  for  inquirers  only  was  ar- 
ranged to  be  held  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day,  in  the  Ulster  Hall,  the  largest 
public  building  we  have.  Admission  to 
this  meeting  was  strictly  limited  to  those 
professing  anxiety  to  find  Jesus.  Chris- 
tian workers  were  admitted  by  ticket,  a 
method  adopted  to  avoid  the  mistake  too 
often  made  at  such  meetings  of  allowing 
incompetent  or  improper  persons  to  en- 
gage in  such  work.  There  is  not  one 
Christian  in  a  hundred  fitted  for  this  most 
delicate  and  difficult  service,  requiring,  as 
it  does,  close  communion  with  Jesus,  much 
knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  very 
clear  views  of  gospel  truth,  and  not  less  a 
desire  to  know  nothing,  and  to  speak  of 
nothing,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cru- 
cified. 

While  all  this  is  true,  it  is  equally  true 
that  none  are  oftener  blessed  in  this  work 
than  young  converts,  while  their  virgin 
love  is  yet  fresh,  and  their  faith  clear  and 
simple.  There  was  at  the  meeting  for  in- 
quirers an  attendance  of  some  500 — this 
in  addition,  it  may  be  noticed,  to  many 
meetings  of  like  kind  held  in  various 
churches  at  the  close  of  the  evening  ser- 
vice. It  was  very  touching  and  stimulat- 
ing, when  an  opportunity  was  given  by 
Mr.  Moody  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  to 
hear  many  young  men  read  out,  in  trem- 
bling tones,  and  yet  with  beaming  coun- 
tenances, some  previous  promise  of  the 
Word  of  God.  It  seemed  like  throwing 
out  a  life-buoy  to  the  struggling  ones 
around,  who  were  swimming  for  life  in  the 
waters  of  death — like  the  letting  down  of 
a  cord  to  the  prisoners  in  the  pit  in  which 
there  is  no  water.  Subsequent  informa- 
tion in  the  young  men's  meeting  proved 
that  these  truths  were  laid  hold  of  sav- 
ingly by  not  a  few  that  Sabbath  night  in 
the  Ulster  Hall. 

On  Sabbath  night  we  had  our  first  meet- 
ing for  young  men,  from  nine  till  ten 
o'clock.  To  the  surprise  of  all  of  us, 
there  were  about  1,500  present.  The  be- 
ginning is  a  special  work,  which,  I  trust, 
will  spread  as  in  Glasgow.  There  had 
been  during  the  Spring  a  very  marked 
work  among  the  young  men  in  Belfast,  in 


BELFAST. 


77 


connection  with  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association.  Now  it  has  been  deep- 
ened and  greatly  extended. 

During  the  week,  the  tide  of  spiritual 
life  seemed  to  increase  each  day.  The 
Bible-readings  at  two  o'clock  have  been 
full  of  interest,  specially  stimulating  to 
many  whose  spiritual  life  had  hitherto  been 
very  dormant.  The  reading  on  "  Grace  " 
yesterday  was,  I  feel  persuaded,  made  a 
blessing  to  many  of  the  children  of  God, 
while  helping  over  the  threshold  many 
almost  saved. 

The  more  special  evangelistic  services 
in  the  evenings  have  been  held  this  week 
in  St.  Enoch's  Church.  The  crowds  de- 
siring to  hear  the  gospel  have  proved  in- 
conveniently great,  filling  the  church  an 
hour  before  the  time ;  while  the  after- 
meetings  have  been  so  filled,  that  the 
work  of  speaking  to- the  anxious  has  been 
very  imperfectly  done. 

Now  as  to  the  point  reached  in  the 
progress  of  this  great  work  of  God,  I 
would  not  like  even  unintentionally  to 
mislead  any  one.  The  work  is  great 
and  extensive  beyond  what  I  have  written, 
and  yet  there  remains  so  very  much  land 
to  be  possessed.  There  are  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  our  population  still  untouched. 
Many  of  the  higher  classes,  church-goers, 
seem  still  unmoved.  We  need  continued 
prayer.  We  need  to  realize  the  "  now  " 
of  our  opportunity — to  understand  that 
Jesus  is  saying,  "  This  thy  day." 


VI. 

The  progress  of  the  work  of  God  in 
Belfast  is  still  very  marked.  God  con- 
tinues to  own  the  labors  of  these  dear 
brethren.  The  manifestations  of  the 
Spirit's  presence  and  power  were  very 
marked.  In  the  earlier  days  of  the  move- 
ment, of  the  many  who  were  deeply  con- 
vinced of  sin,  comparatively  few  seemed  to 
come  to  rest  and  peace  and  faith  in  Jesus. 
It  seemed  as  if  a  higher  tide  of  the  Spirit's 
power  were  needed  to  guide  them  through 
the  quicksands  of  difficulty,  and  over  the 
bar  of  doubt  and  distrust,  into  the  haven 
of  rest. 

This  week,  we  thank  God,  it  is  other- 
wise. We  can  say  with  thanksgiving  con- 
cerning many,  "  They  which  have  believed 
do  enter  into  rest." 

The  meeting  for  the  young  on  Saturday 
(26th)  was  very  striking.     Mr.  Moody  pre- 


sided. The  truth  seemed  to  reach,  in  the 
Spirit's  power,  many  young  hearts.  A 
meeting  for  boys  under  fifteen  has  been 
organized.  Some  of  the  cases  in  it  are 
exceedingly  touching,  affording,  I  con- 
ceive, illustrations  of  the  work  of  God 
upon  the  human  heart  in  its  simplest  and 
deepest  form.  This  meeting  for  boys  as- 
sembles every  evening  now  at  half-past 
seven. 

The  open-air  meeting  on  Sabbath  (27th) 
was  held  in  a  different  part  of  the  town ; 
the  multitudes  assembling  equally  great, 
according  to  some  greater,  than  on  the 
past  Sabbaths.  Mr.  Moody's  address  was 
well  calculated  to  awaken  from  security 
and  draw  sinners  to  the  one  Refuge.  We 
have  been  reaping  the  fruits  in  our  inquiry- 
meetings  during  the  week. 

On  Monday  we  had  no  meeting — rather, 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  meetings,  I 
shall  venture  to  say,  ever  held  in  Belfast. 
Fisherwick  Place  Church  was  open  for  in- 
quirers from  two  till  ten  o'clock.  Mr. 
Moody  and  other  Christian  workers  were 
occupied  all  that  time  in  pointing  sinners 
to  the  Lamb  of  God.  It  is  impossible  to 
say  how  many  wounded  spirits  were  con- 
versed with  during  the  day.  Many  very 
experienced  Christians,  who  have  seen 
much  of  the  Lord's  work  in  other  years, 
declare  they  never  saw  a  meeting  like  it. 

Though  more  privately  held,  I  must  not 
omit  to  notice  a  meeting  which  Mr.  Moody 
had  on  Sabbath  night  (27th),  with  men 
who  profess  to  have  been  led  to  Jesus 
since  these  special  meetings  began,  and 
with  others  anxiously  seeking.  I  saw 
many  wonderful  meetings  during  the  year 
of  grace  (1859),  but  I  do  not  think  I  was 
ever  so  impressed  with  the  glory  and 
beauty  of  the  work  of  God  as  when  I  en- 
tered this  meeting  toward  the  close  of  it. 
It  was  a  sight  which  would,  I  think,  have 
drawn  tears  of  joy  from  any  heart  to  see 
upwards  of  200  young  men,  the  very  flower 
of  our  youth,  one  after  another  acknowl- 
edging the  yoke  of  Jesus.  Passing  just 
across  the  street,  I  entered  May  Street 
Church,  where  more  than  1,000  men  were 
assembled  to  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  great 

joy- 
In  order  that  as  many  as  possible  might 

have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  gospel 

at   these    special   services,   admission   on 

Tuesday  night  was  by  tickets,  given  only 

to  such  as   had   not   hitherto   heard  Mr. 

Moody.     About  3,000  tickets  were  given 

on  personal  application.     It  was  a  season 


78 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


to  be  remembered.  The  soil,  so  to  speak, 
was  virgin ;  the  attention  so  marked  as  to 
be  ahnost  painful  in  its  silence ;  the  pres- 
ence of  God  very  powerful  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  every  spiritual  mind.  The  inqui- 
rers at  the  close  of  the  meeting  were  spoken 
to,  as  far  as  they  could  be  overtaken,  in 
adjacent  churches,  to  which  the  men  and 
women  were  sent  respectively. 

The  mid-day  meeting  in  Fishenvick 
Place  Church  still  continues.  On  Wed- 
nesday, Mr.  Moody  addressed  it  from  Luke 
ii.  7,  "  There  was  no  room  for  them  in  the 
inn."  Many  who  are  not  reached  at  other 
places  hear  the  gospel  at  this  hour.  It  has 
already  proved  the  meeting-place  between 
Jesus  and  many  a  sinner. 

A  great  meeting  is  to  be  held  in  the 
Botanic  Gardens,  October  8th.  The  vari- 
ous railway  companies  have  agreed  to  run 
special  trains  in  connection  with  it.  Our 
desire  is  that  God,  who  has  already  done 
such  great  things  for  us,  would  be  pleased 
to  use  it  to  shake  mightily  Ulster  and 
Ireland.  We  would  wish  to  assemble 
100,000  people  to  hear  the  word  of  God. 
We  zvant  Ireland  for  Christ ! 

As  the  week  advances,  the  work  of  God 
deepens  and  extends.  The  meetings  on 
Wednesday  and  Thursday,  in  my  judg- 
ment, have  exceeded  anything  we  have  yet 
experienced.  Men  and  women  in  great 
numbers  are  found  crowding  the  "  second 
meetings,"  seeking  Jesus. 

It  is,  at  all  events,  worthy  of  remark : 
the  great  contrast  in  outward  manifesta- 
tion between  the  present  work  and  that 
of  1859.  I  have  not  heard  of  or  noticed 
any  physical  excitement — not  even  an  out- 
cry, much  less  what  were  then  known  as 
"  prostrations." 

Another  asked  prayer  for  a  son  who  has 
joined  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  he  may 
be  led  back  again  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus. 

One  of  the  subjects  spoken  of  was  the 
willingness  of  our  unseen  Head  in  the 
skies  to  guide  and  uphold  His  members. 
Do  we  not  take  care,  going  along  a  diffi- 
cult road,  to  keep  our  foot  from  slipping.? 
Will  He,  the  Head,  take  less  care  to  keep 
His  member  from  falling  or  going  a  step 
wrong,  if  that  member  confidingly  trusts 
His  guidance  1  Let  us  not  forget  that  the 
guidance  He  may  give  may  be  to  go  and 
consult  with  those  of  riper  judgment  and  . 
longer  experience  in  His  work. 


VII. 

Sabbath  morning  (4th)  dawned  upon  us 
very  wet  and  windy.  AVe  had  fears  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  masses  of  the 
people  to  meet  in  the  open  air  ;  but  a  little 
while  before  the  hour  of  meeting  the  rain 
ceased,  the  sun  shone  out,  and  the  weather 
became  most  auspicious.  Here  let  me  say, 
it  has  been  most  noteworthy  that,  during 
the  last  weeks,  while  we  have  had  most  in- 
clement weather,  every  Sabbath-day,  and  at 
the  hour  of  our  great  gatherings,  it  has 
been  all  that  could  be  desired. 

The  number  in  attendance  was  fully 
equal  to  any  preceding  Sabbath.  It  may 
give  you  some  idea  of  the  multitude 
if  I  state  that  the  field  on  which  the 
meeting  was  held  contains  about  six  acres, 
and  that  the  people  stood  densely  packed 
from  one  end  to  the  other.  There  was 
profound  solemnity.  The  impression 
upon  the  hearts  of  the  people  by  the  truth 
in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  was  very  deep, 
as  the  sequel  will  show. 

Mr.  Moody  held  his  usual  meeting  on 
Sabbath  evening  for  those  in  deep  distress 
about  salvation,  and  for  those  who  had 
found  eternal  life  during  the  past  weeks 
through  faith  in  Jesus.  The  meeting  was 
exclusively  for  men,  and  admission  solely 
by  ticket.  The  hali  in  which  it  was  held 
was  completely  filled.  Mr.  Moody  stated 
in  the  noon-day  prayer-meeting  on  Mon- 
day that,  in  his  judgment,  it  was  the  most 
remarkable  meeting  he  has  had  yet  in  Europe. 
To  God  be  all  the  praise  !  One  after  an- 
other of  these  young  men — and  they  com- 
prise the  very  flower  of  our  youth— rose, 
and,  with  clearness  and  wonderful  felicity 
of  expression,  in  burning  words,  declared 
what  God  had  done  for  his  soul.  At 
length,  at  nine  o'clock,  the  meeting  was 
closed. 

Meanwhile  another  meeting  of  men  was 
assembling  in  a  church.  It  was  already 
very  nearly  filled  when  we  heard  the  tread 
of  a  large  company  approaching.  It  was 
a  phalanx  of  these  redeemed  youths. 
They  sang  the  new  song.  In  a  sponta- 
neous burst  of  praise  they  were  telling 
forth  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love.  No 
language  can  describe  the  scene.  The 
heavenly  echoes  of  that  burst  of  praise,  I 
think,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  any  who 
heard  it.  The  meeting  that  followed,  con- 
sisting of  some  two  thousand  men,  I  need 
not  say,  was  one  of  profound  interest — 


BELFAST. 


79 


Jesus  in  the  midst  and  the  marching  glori- 
ous. 

During  each  day  of  this  week  and  at 
every  gathering,  more  and  more  of  the 
presence  of  the  God  of  salvation  has  been 
manifested.  Let  me  in  a  sentence  or  two 
describe  one,  which,  in  sober  language, 
was  most  wonderful.  Mr.  Moody  ad- 
dressed on  Monday  evening  in  Fisherwick 
Place  Church,  a  meeting  of  men.  At  the 
close  of  his  address,  all  who  had  recently 
been  found  by  th.e  Good  Shepherd,  and 
also  all  who  were  seeking  Him,  were  re- 
quested to  retire  to  the  adjoining  lecture- 
room.  Some  six  hundred  men  did  so. 
Mr.  Moody  again  sifted  them,  by  request- 
ing that  those  only  who  were  deeply  anx- 
ious to  be  saved  should  adjourn  to  another 
room.  Probably  nearly  three  hundred  did 
so.  In  breathless  stillness  Mr.  Moody  ad*" 
dressed  them,  very  briefly  stating  that  he 
could  do  no  more  for  them — that  they  had 
heard  the  gospel,  and  that  it  was  for  them- 
selves to  decide.  He  called  upon  them  to 
kneel  and  pray  for  themselves.  They 
bowed  as  one  man,  and  now  here  and  now 
there  might  be  heard  the  short  cry  for 
mercy — a  few  earnest  words  of  supplica- 
tion ;  probably  about  thirty  or  forty  so  cried 
to  God  one  after  the  other.  Surely  the 
Lord  is  in  this  place!  was  the  thought 
which  rose  in  holy  fear  in  the  hearts  of  all. 

After  a  short  prayer  by  Mr.  Moody,  he 
addressed  them  very  faithfully.  He  again 
held  forth  Christ,  and  invited  all  to  rise 
who  felt  that  they  could  there  and  then  ac- 
cept Jesus.  All  of  that  large  company, 
save  twenty  or  thirty,  stood  up,  and  sol- 
emnly avouched  the  Lord  to  be  their  God. 
This  wonderful  sight  cannot  be  described. 
The  glory  of  it  cannot  be  realized  even 
by  those  best  acquainted  with  divine 
things.  If  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth,  what  shall  we  say  of 
the  gladness  in  the  Father's  house  when 
the  prodigals  in  companies  of  some  two 
hundred  enter,  as  it  were,  at  once  .? 

Thursday,  October  8,  we  had  fixed  for  a 
gathering  of  the  masses  in  the  open-air. 
Many  had  fears  for  the  weather,  but 
much  prayer  in  many  places  over  the  three 
kingdoms  were  offered  to  God  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  meeting.  God  did  for  us  above 
what  we  asked.  The  weather  was  splen- 
did ;  everything  as  regards  order  and  de- 
corum all  that  any  of  us  could  wish.  It 
was  the  largest  open-air  meeting  I  ever  at- 
tended. I  cannot  pretend  to  fix  a  limit  to 
the  numbers.     He  who  counts  the  stars 


knew  the  history  of  each  present,  and  what 
were  the  dealings  of  his  heart  with  Christ 
and  the  free  offer  of  His  salvation.  The 
only  regret  that  seems  to  be  expressed  by 
any  was,  that  the  services  were  so  short. 

Mr.  Moody  addressed  the  vast  multitude 
from  the  words,  "  I  pray  thee,  have  me  ex- 
cused." With  graphic  felicity,  great  clear- 
ness, and  soul-piercing  power,  he  exposed 
the  miserable  pretences  by  which  sinners 
impose  upon  themselves  in  refusing  a  pres- 
ent offer  of  present  blessedness.  The  ad- 
dress seemed  to  strike  with  convicting 
power  many  consciences,  and,  from  many 
instances  coming  under  my  own  observa- 
tion, at  the  inquiry-meeting  in  Fisherwick 
Place  Church,  I  have  reason  to  believe  in 
salvation  power. 


VIII. 

The  great  gathering  in  the  Botanic 
Gardens  on  October  8th  has  been  our 
crowning  mercy  in  this  season  of  blessing. 
We  feel  as  if  every  prayer  had  been  heard 
and  every  heart  gratified  by  our  gracious 
God.  As  the  days  pass,  and  as  tidings 
reach  us  from  the  country  districts  all 
around,  we  continually  hear  of  rich  bless- 
ings bestowed  and  of  precious  fruits  fol- 
lowing. Many  carried  with  them  to  their 
homes  the  spark  of  renewed  life.  That 
spark  has,  in  some  cases,  already  burnt 
into  a  blaze.  We  receive  the  good  news 
from  many  places  of  great  readiness  to 
hear  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  cry, 
"  Come  over  and  help  us,"  reaches  us 
from  many  quarters. 

Our  dear  American  brethren  left  us  on 
Saturday  for  Derry.  Tidings  have  reach- 
ed us  that  a  great  and  effectual  door  was 
opened  unto  them  in  that  city.  I  trust 
some  eye-witness  will  lay  before  those 
interested  an  account  of  the  doings  of  the 
Lord  there.  Meanwhile,  in  Belfast,  our 
meetings  have  gone  on  as  usual.  The  in- 
terest in  divine  things  continues  still  un- 
abated, many  anxiously  seeking  Jesus,  and 
many  finding  Him  as  their  Refuge  and 
Portion.  In  the  Young  Men's  Meeting, 
held  every  evening  at  nine,  in  Fisherwick 
Place  Church,  the  work  of  God  makes 
great  progress.  Monday  night  was  espe- 
cially a  night  of  great  power. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  returned 
from  Derry  this  morning  (Oct.  15)  to  hold 
their  final  meeting,  ere  passing  on  to  Dub- 
lin.    Mr.  Moody  presided   at  the  noon- 


8o 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


day  prayer-meeting.  The  subject  was, 
*'  Lessons  from  the  life  of  Jacob."  The 
meeting  was  one  of  great  interest.  The 
meeting  in  the  evening  was  held  in  St. 
Enoch's  Church.  It  was  exclusively  for 
sinners  under  anxiety  of  soul,  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  earnestly  seeking  Jesus.  Ad- 
mission was  by  tickets,  and  that,  more- 
over, on  personal  application. 

Readers  may  judge  of  the  depth  of  the 
movement  and  the  measure  of  awaken- 
ing power  upon  the  souls  of  men  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  when  I  state  that  upwards 
of  2,400  persons  were  so  admitted  !  It 
was  Mr.  Moody's  last  appeal  in  Belfast  to 
the  Christless.  I  may  not  attempt  to  de- 
scribe the  scene  !  He  set  before  the  anxious, 
sin-stricken  multitude,  Jesus  in  all  the 
glory  of  His  sufficiency — in  all  the  attrac- 
tions of  His  dying  love.  He  showed  Him, 
as  with  one  foot  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
heart  He  sought  admission.  Now  in  faith- 
ful and  firm  words  he  warned  them  of  the 
dangers  of  delay ;  and  now  he  gently 
moved  them,  in  tenderness,  as  one  whom 
his  mother  comforteth.  At  length  he 
ceased  speaking,  that  each  might  hear,  in 
the  silence,  the  voice  of  Jesus  pleading 
directly.  And  in  the  awful  stillness  of 
that  moment  many  of  that  great  company 
of  seeking  sinners,  I  trust,  were  able  to 
say  in  words  expressive  of  soul-submission, 
"  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth." 

I  think  it  must  have  been  the  most  not- 
able meeting  in  the  experience  of  Mr. 
Moody.  1  do  not  at  present  remember  to 
have  read  of  any  such  meeting,  as  regards 
the  number  of  the  awakened,  in  modern 
times.  Does  it  not  seem  like  a  return  of 
Pentecostal  power,  when  3,000  were  simi- 
larly smitten  with  soul-concern .? 

Oct.  17. — Yesterday  was  the  concluding 
day  of  the  labors  of  our  beloved  brethren. 
The  noon-day  prayer-meeting  was  crowd- 
ed. The  great  multitude  was  moved  deep- 
ly with  contending  feelings — of  joy  in 
God  and  gratitude  for  all  He  had  done  for 
so  many  of  them  through  the  labors  of  His 
servants ;  of  sorrow  because  they  should 
see  their  faces  no  more  till  the  resurrec- 
tion morn.  The  meeting  commended 
them  to  the  grace  of  God,  beseeching  the 
God  of  all  grace  to  bestow  a  fresh  bap- 
tism upon  them  of  power  for  their  work  in 
Dublin. 


At  the  two  o'clock  meeting  in  Fisher- 
wick  Place  Church,  Mr.  Moody  chose  as 
his  subject — The  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  a  Baptism  of  power  for  witnessing  and 
work.  As  he  spoke  of  power,  the  Spirit 
of  might  seemed  to  descend  upon  him. 

The  meeting  in  the  evening  was  for  the 
young  converts — for  all  who  have  reason 
to  believe  that  they  had  found  Jesus  since 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  came  to  Bel- 
fast. Admission  was  strictly  by  ticket. 
These  tickets  were  only  given  on  personal 
application.  About  two  thousatid  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  tickets  were  given  !  What  a 
rich  harvest !  How  soon  gathered  !  The 
result  of  some  five  weeks'  work  !  I  have 
good  reason  to  believe  that  even  this  num- 
ber fell  very  far  short  of  the  whole  num- 
ber who  profess  to  have  received  Jesus  as 
the  gift  of  God. 

It  was  a  soul-stirring  sight  to  see  that 
vast  multitude,  including  the  Christian 
workers  and  ministers,  numbering  more 
than  3,000.  It  was  like  the  sound  of  many 
waters  to  hear  this  multitude  sing  the  new 
song.  As  all  stood  and  sung  in  one  burst 
of  praise — 

"  O  happy  day  that  fixed  my  choice 
On  Thee,  my  Saviour  and  my  God," 

the  effect  was  overpowering,  filling  the 
soul  with  a  sweet  foretaste  of  the  praises 
of  heaven. 

Mr.  Moody's  last  word  of  comfort  and 
encouragement  was  founded  on  Rom.  xiv. 
4,  "  God  is  able  to  make  him  stand."  Ho 
closed  his  address  by  commending  all  the 
new-born  souls  "  to  Him  who  is  able  to 
keep  you  from  falling."  Hundreds  of 
men  not  used  to  a  melting  mood,  with 
weeping  eyes  and  heaving  bosoms,  heard 
him  say,  as  he  concluded,  "  Good-night ; 
we  shall  meet  in  the  morning  when  the 
shadows  flee  away." 

A  very  touching  incident  in  the  service 
was  the  singing,  by  Mr.  Sankey,  of  a  hymn 
composed  by  a  dying  youth  in  Belfast,  "  Is 
there  room  .?  they  say  there  is  room  !" 

The  work  of  God  has  begun  in  a  strik- 
ing manner  in  many  places  around  Belfast. 
We  are  confidently  expecting  that  it  will 
quickly  and  widely  spread.  The  high 
mountain,  before  prayer,  will  become  a 
plain. 


THE   WORK    IN    LONDONDERRY. 


One  of  the  most  satisfactory  features  of 
the  visit  has  been  the  unanimity  and  cor- 
diality with  which  the  ministers  of  all  de- 
nominations not  only  joined  in  the  origi- 
nal invitation  to  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey,  but  also  assisted  in  the  further- 
ance of  the  work  during  the  present  week. 
Presbyterian,  Wesleyan,  and  Independent 
seemed  to  have  but  one  object  and  one 
desire  —  to  make  the  work  of  revival 
among  the  people  as  general  and  wide- 
spread as  possible.  The  original  request 
to  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  emanated 
some  months  ago  from  the  committee  of 
the  weekly  mid-day  prayer-meeting,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association.  All  the  ministers  who 
were  asked  to  put  their  churches  at  the 
disposal  of  the  committee  intimated  their 
willingness  to  do  so.  The  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  however,  was  selected  for 
holding  the  meetings,  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  it  was  the  largest,  and  therefore 
best  able  to  accommodate  the  large  num- 
bers likely  to  be  present. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  arrived  in 
Derry  from  Belfast  on  Saturday  evening, 
and  commenced  their  labors  on  Sunday, 
the  nth,  with  the  same  spirit  of  energy 
and  enthusiasm  which  carried  them 
through  so  much  in  Belfast.  Mr.  Moody 
exhibited  little  trace  of  hard  work  or 
fatigue,  though  for  some  weeks  past  he 
has  gone  through  an  amount  of  mental 
and  physical  toil  under  which  many  men 
would  have  completely  broken  down. 
There  were  the  same  freshness  and  vigor, 
the  same  fertility  of  illustration  and  point- 
ed application,  the  same  earnestness  and 
simplicity,  the  same  zeal  and  enthusiasm, 
and  the  same  intense  desire  to  win  souls 
for  his  Master.  Three  services  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  same  number  on  each  of 
the  following  three  days  of  the  week,  with 
inquiry-meetings  each  evening,  has  been 
his  programme  h^re,  and  he  never  seemed 
to  fail  either  in  body  or  mind.  He  ap- 
peared conscious  of  the  shortness  of  his 
visit,  and  seemed  to  grow  more  earnest  in 
consequence. 

While  Mr.  Moody  faithfully  presented 
the  gospel,  Mr.  Sankey  was  no  less  faith- 


ful in  his  lessons  in  song.  He  was  so  ad- 
mirably assisted  by  a  local  choir  as  to 
draw  a  special  eulogium  from  Mr.  Moody 
at  one  of  the  noon  meetings.  He  said  he 
had  heard  a  great  many  choirs  assist  at 
these  meetings,  but  he  had  never  yet  heard 
one  which  sang  so  sweetly  and  so  well  as 
the  one  which  had  been  organized  to  assist 
in  singing  the  praises  of  God  in  London- 
derry. On  the  same  occasion  he  referred 
to  the  importance  of  the  Church  paying 
greater  attention  to  the  subject  of  praise. 
Some  were  only  for  singing  the  psalms, 
but  he  thought  they  should  also  sing 
"new  songs."  Anew  hymn  was  just  as 
good  as  a  sermon.  They  could  sing  the 
gospel  into  many  a  man's  heart.  He 
hoped  the  Church  would  feel  alive  to  its 
duty  in  this  matter  of  praise,  and  not  be 
hindered  by  prejudice,  which  is  the  twin 
sister  of  unbelief. 

The  opening  meeting  was  intended  for 
Christian  workers,  and  Mr.  Moody  dwelt 
especially  on  the  subject  of  Christian  work, 
and  gave  some  earnest  and  practical  coun- 
sel. On  the  same  day  two  meetings  were 
held  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church;  one 
at  four  and  the  other  at  eight  o'clock-. 
The  ordinary  congregational  services- were 
conducted  in  the  church  at  twelve  o'clock, 
without,  of  course,  any  instrumental  ac- 
companiment in  the  praise.  At  both 
special  services  the  church  was-  crowded 
to  overflowing,  and  the  gates  had  to  be 
closed  half  an  hour  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  service.  Indeed,  at  the  even- 
ing meeting,  the  church  was  filled  at  seven 
o'clock,  the  people  crowding  in  such  num- 
bers to  the  service.  Overflowing  meetings- 
were  held  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  and 
were  pretty  well  attended,  though  better 
in  the  evening  than  in  the  afternoon. 

On  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday, 
three  services  were  held  each  day,  includ- 
ing one  children's  service.  Owing  to  the 
heavy  downpour  of  rain  on  Monday,  the 
church  was  not  so  well  filled  as  on  the 
other  days,  when  the  congregations  were 
very  large ;  but  on  each  evening  fully 
2,000  found  accommodation  in  the  church, 
filling  it  from  floor  to  ceiling,  while  the 
hundreds  unable  to  gain  admittance  went 


82 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


to  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  where  they  were 
suitably  addressed.  The  concluding  meet- 
ing on  Wednesday  evening  was  especially 
large,  and  the  services  particularly  solemn. 

With  regard  to  the  audiences,  they  were 
thoroughly  representative.  Young  and 
old  of  all  classes,  not  only  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Derry,  but  of  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts, for  miles  around,  attended.  Excur- 
sion trains  on  the  Irish  North-Western 
Railway  and  Northern  Counties  Railway 
brought  many  into  the  town,  while  hun- 
dreds walked  and  drove  many  miles,  in 
order  to  be  present  at  the  meetings.  The 
attendances  steadily  increased  to  the  close, 
and  as  the  last  of  the  services  approached, 
there  seemed  to  be  a  general  expression  of 
regret  on  the  part  of  all  interested.  A 
noticeable  incident  in  connection  with  the 
meetings  was  the  large  number  of  clergy- 
men who  were  present  at  them. 

The  prevailing  characteristic  of  all  the 
meetings  was  intense  earnestness  and  so- 


lemnity, but  without  any  undue  excite- 
ment. The  services  seemed  to  awaken 
the  liveliest  interest  in  the  public  mind, 
and  to  produce  a  marked  impression.  The 
inquiry-meetings  after  the  first  night  were 
well  attended,  large  numbers  of  both  sexes 
remaining  for  conversation  and  prayer 
with  Mr.  Moody  and  the  Christian  workers 
who  were  admitted  (by  ticket)  to  converse 
with  the  anxious.  In  this  respect  every 
precaution  was  taken  that  none  but  duly 
qualified  persons  should  be  admitted.  The 
time  occupied  at  these  meetings  was  brief, 
but  the  addresses  and  conversations  earnest 
and  impressive.  The  upper  room  was  set 
apart  for  female  inquirers,  and  the  lower 
schoolroom  for  males.  These  meetings 
are  described  by  those  who  were  present 
as  having  been  of  a  most  interesting  char- 
acter. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  for  con- 
tinuing a  twelve  o'clock  prayer- meeting, 
and  a  meeting  at  eight  o'clock  p.m.  daily. 


THE    \VORK    IN    DUBLIN. 


I. 

Dublin,  Oct.  2^fh. — At  last  the  prayers 
of  many  of  God's  dear  children  are  being 
answered  by  the  coming  amongst  us  of 
these  honored  servants  of  our  Lord.  And 
to-day  we  take  a  slight  retrospect  of  our 
week's  prayer  and  praise,  and  work  for  the 
gracious  Lord. 

A  general  prayer-meeting,  preparatory 
to  commencing  these  special  evangelistic 
services,  was  held  in  the  Metropolitan 
Hall,  on  Saturday,  the  17th.  It  was  quite 
full,  though  capable  of  accommodating 
more  that  2,000  people.  As  one  looked 
over  that  large  assembly,  composed  of 
members  of  all  the  evangelical  denomina- 
tions of  the  city,  and  observed  the  spirit 
of  unity  as  well  as  of  earnestness  and  de- 
votion that  prevailed,  one  could  not  but 
feel  that  we  had  entered  upon  a  new  phase 
of  religious  life,  and  that  brighter  days  are 
dawning  upon  Ireland. 

For  the  first  time  and  in  connection 
with  this  movement  have  we  seen  the 
clergy  of  all  the  evangelical  churches 
working  cordially  together,  without  the 
least  shade  of  envy  or  party  spirit,  all  feel- 


ing that  they  are  workers  in  the  same  holy 
cause,  children  of  the  same  Father,  ser- 
vants of  the  same  gracious  Master. 

It  is  right  to  remark  that  for  many 
months  past  we  have  had  in  the  Metro- 
politan Hall  a  weekly  union  prayer- 
meeting,  in  which  ministers  of  the  various 
churches  have  taken  part.  Indeed,  I  be- 
lieve Mr.  Moody  requires  this,  and  that  he 
declines  to  visit  any  place  unless  there  has 
been  previously  much  intercessory  prayer. 
Thank  God,  it  was  so  here,  and  we  are  al- 
ready receiving  answers  to  the  prayer,  the 
first  droppings  of  those  rich  showers  of 
blessings  for  which  we  look. 

The  committee  of  management  procured 
the  Exhibition  Palace  for  holding  these 
services,  the  largest  and  most  commodious 
building  which  has  yet,  in  Europe,  been 
placed  at  Mr.  Moody's  disposal.  On  Sun- 
day last  the  Christians  of  Dublin  witnessed 
a  sight  to  gladden  their  hearts.  It  has 
been  estimated  that,  at  the  first  service  at 
four  o'clock,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  thousand 
persons  were  gathered  there.  Never  be- 
fore was  it  put  to  so  blessed  a  use. 

Mr.  Moody  addressed  th5  vast  con- 
course from  the  text,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 


DUBLIN. 


^^ 


world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature  "  (Mark  xvi.  i6).  The  audience 
was  greatly  impressed  by  the  discourse,  as 
also  by  Mr.  Sankey  singing  that  affecting 
hymn,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by-" 

Every  day  during  the  week  there  was  a 
prayer-meeting  at  noon  in  the  Metropoli- 
tan Hall,  which  on  each  occasion  was  fill- 
ed to  overflowing. 

On  Monday  Mr.  Moody  presided,  and 
spoke  very  forcibly  on  the  importance  and 
power  of  prayer.  It  was  my  happy  privi- 
lege, as  a  minister  of  the  Irish  Church,  to 
preside  on  Tuesday,  and  in  the  name  of 
very  many  of  the  Christian  people  of 
Dublin,  to  offer  our  dear  fellow-laborers  a 
hearty  welcome.  On  Wednesday  the  Rev. 
F.  Dowling  (Bethesda  Chapel)  took  the 
chair,  and  spoke  with  much  power  on 
"  Christian  Hope."  The  Rev.  J.  Fleming 
Stevenson  (Presbyterian)  acted  as  chair- 
man on  Thursday,  and  brought  out  with 
much  effect  some  incidents  in  Joshua's 
life.  On  Friday  Mr.  Moody  again  pre- 
sided, and  was  listened  to  with  deep  atten- 
tion. To-day  Rev.  Edward  Best  (Wes- 
leyan)  spoke  with  much  unction  and  feel- 
ing upon  "Prayer  for  Children."  On 
these  occasions  Mr.  Moody  and  several 
clergymen  and  lay  brethren  led  the  con- 
gregation in  prayer.  Many  went  away 
deeply  solemnized,  and  thanking  God  for 
that  "  sweet  hour  of  prayer." 

At  the  services  in  the  Exhibition  build- 
ing, the  weather  being  beautifully  fine,  the 
attendance  increased  each  succeeding 
evening.  On  Monday  evening,  and  again 
on  Tuesday  evening,  Mr.  Moody  spoke 
of  Jesus  coming  "  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost,"  interspersing  his  dis- 
course with  many  forcible  illustrations. 
The  following  evening  his  subject  was  the 
powerlessness  of  the  Law  to  save,  and  then 
he  set  forth  Jesus  as  the  only  and  all-suffi- 
cient Saviour.  Thursday  and  Friday 
evenings  were  devoted  to  showing  the  ne- 
cessity of  Spiritual  Regeneration. 


II. 

We  have  never  before  seen  such  sights  in 
Dublin  as  we  have  seen  this  last  week,  night 
after  night,  at  the  Exhibition  Palace.  It  is 
estimated  to  hold  10,000  persons.  Every 
night  it  is  filled,  and  the  attention  and 
silence  is  wonderful.  One  feels  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  is  present,  and  that  "  a  wave 
of  prayer  "  is  continually  going  up  to  the 
throne  from  the  Lord's  people. 


The  second  week  of  this  visit  has  now 
nearly  come  to  a  close ;  and  when  the  vis- 
its of  kings  and  princes  have  been  forgot- 
ten, this  will  be  remembered  by  many, 
even  through  all  eternity,  for  the  gospel  so 
faithfully  preached  by  Mr.  Moody,  and  so 
sweetly  sung  by  Mr.  Sankey. 

Thank  God,  every  day  reveals  a  growing 
interest  on  the  part  of  the  public  at  large 
in  their  evangelistic  labors.  Every  day 
their  work  is  extending,  widening,  and 
deepening.  The  inhabitants  of  Dublin 
are  becoming  alive  to  the  fact  that  we  are 
now  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  great  "  time  of* 
refreshing,"  and  that  our  gracious  God  is 
working  powerfully  amongst  us  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  these  His  honored  ser- 
vants. 

Such  a  sight  has  never  before  been  v/it- 
nessed  here  as  may  now  be  seen  every  day 
— thousands  flocking  to  the  prayer-meet- 
ing and  the  Bible-meeting,  and  most  of  all 
to  the  evening  services  in  the  great  Exhi- 
bition Palace.  It  is  a  sight  to  fill  the  heart 
of  the  child  of  God  with  deepest  emotion 
to  stand  upon  the  platform  erected  in  that 
building,  from  which  Mr.  Moody  preaches, 
and  to  cast  one's  eye  over  the  vast  con- 
course of  people,  hanging  on  the  speaker's 
lips,  as  in  burning  words  he  discourses  of 
life  and  death,  heaven  and  hell,  "  Jesus 
and  His  love ;"  and  one  cannot  but  ask  the 
question,  "  What  is  the  magic  power  which 
draws  together  those  mighty  multitudes, 
and  holds  them  spell-bound.''"  Is  it  the 
worldly  rank,  or  wealth,  or  learning,  or  ora- 
tory of  the  preacher .?  No;  for  he  is  pos- 
sessed of  but  little  of  these  (spiritually, 
indeed,  he  is  richly  endowed  with  them 
all.)  It  is  the  simple  lifting  up  of  the  cross 
of  Christ — the  holding  forth  the  Lord  Jesus 
before  the  eyes  of  the  people  in  all  the 
glory  of  His  Godhead,  in  all  the  simplicity 
of  His  manhood,  in  all  the  perfection  of 
His  nature,  for  their  admiration,  for  their 
adoration,  and  for  their  acceptance. 

As  an  Episcopalian  minister,  I  am  most 
thankful  to  see  so  many  of  the  dear  breth- 
ren of  my  own  church,  as  well  as  of  the 
othf  r  evangelical  churches,  attending  and 
taking  part  in  these  happy  services. 

One  dear  brother,  an  able  and  godly^ 
minister,  stated  a  day  or  two  ago  that,  by 
attendance  at  these  services,  he  seemed  to 
have  "  returned  to  the  freshness  of  his  spir- 
itual youth." 

This  is  the  outline  of  the  past  week's 
work.  On  Saturday  evening,  at  the  ser- 
vice   in    the    Exhibition    building,    Mr, 


84 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Moody  entered  into  a  defense  of  his  cus- 
tom of  holding  meetings  for  inquirers  after 
each  service,  and  proved,  in  answer  to  ob- 
jectors, that  he  had  abundant  Scriptural 
warrant  for  so  doing. 

On  Sunday  morning,  at  eight  o'clock, 
there  was  a  meeting  for  prayer  of  the  work- 
ers connected  with  this  good  cause.  Mr. 
Moody  addressed  them,  and  spoke  many 
kind  words  of  encouragement.  The 
afternoon  service  in  the  Exhibition  Palace 
on  the  same  day  was  densely  crowded, 
from  8,000  to  10,000  persons  being  present. 
Mr.  Moody  preached  a  stirring  sermon 
from  St.  Luke,  4th  chapter,  i8th  verse. 
The  whole  audience  seemed  deeply  affected 
by  the  sermon,  as  also  by  that  touching 
hymn,  "  The  Ninety  and  Nine." 

At  the  noon  prayer-meeting  on  Monday 
at  the  Metropolitan  Hall,  the  subject  was, 
"  Work  for  Christ."  Mr.  Moody  gave 
some  striking  instances  of  awakening  which 
came  under  his  own  observation  in  the 
inquiry-room  during  the  past  week.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Marrable  (Episcopalian)  also 
supplied  some  interesting  facts,  as  did  also 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  president  of  the 
Primitive  Wesleyan  Conference.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Craig  told  of  an  officer  of  rank  and 
position,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  scale 
the  walls  of  Delhi,  and  who,  though  he 
was  in  Scotland  during  the  sojourn  there 
of  the  American  evangelists,  yet  never 
attended  their  services,  but  who  was  in- 
duced to  do  so  here  last  week,  and  the 
result  was  that  he  found  a  joy  and  peace 
in  his  soul  which  he  had  never  before 
known.  These  are  only  a  few  out  of  very 
many  instances  that  might  be  mentioned. 
To  God  be  all  the  praise ! 

All  the  services  have  been  largely  at- 
tended ;  indeed,  the  numbers  seemed  to 
increase  from  day  to  day. 

I  would  specially  call  the  attention  of 
your  Dublin  readers  to  the  Bible-reading 
at  two  o'clock  each  day  in  the  Metropoli- 
tan Hall.  There  indeed  is  a  feast  of  fat 
things  prepared  for  them.  It  is  deeply 
instructive  to  see  the  "  things  new  and 
old "  which  he  draws  in  rich  profusion 
from  the  treasury  of  God's  Word.  May 
God  bless  him,  and  make  him  a  blessing 
to  thousands  ! 

III. 

"Thank  God  for  sending  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  to  Dublin."  Such,  I 
am  persuaded,  is  the    expression  of   the 


feeling  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  in  our 
city  to-day ;  and  why  should  it  not  be  so 
when  many  are  pressing  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  1  How  many  families  are  rejoic- 
ing in  prodigals  returned,  drunkards  re- 
claimed, blasphemers  silenced,  the  careless 
aroused,  the  lost  restored,  sinners  convert- 
ed, and,  in  a  word,  Jesus  received  into  the 
hearts  and  homes  of  many !  But  some 
may  be  ready  to  ask,  "Why  should  this  be 
so  now  more  than  ever.?  Was  not  the 
Lord  as  ready  to  do  this  heretofore  as 
now.?  Is  His  arm  ever  shortened  that  He 
cannot  save.?"  We  answer,  "True;  but 
though  God  is  Sovereign,  and  does  all 
things  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
His  will,  we  can  ourselves  see  reasons  for 
the  present  success." 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  in  answer  to 
prayer.  God's  dear  children  in  England, 
Scotland,  America,  and  elsewhere,  as  well 
as  amongst  ourselves,  are  praying  for  a 
blessing  on  Dublin  and  Ireland.  Now 
we  know  that  our  God  delights  to  hear 
and  to  answer  prayer.  Blessed  be  His 
name !  that  answer  is  even  now  being 
given. 

In  the  second  place,  God  has  wonder- 
fully fitted  these  His  servants  for  the  work 
He  has  given  them  to  do.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that  there  is  a  want  of  directness,  if 
not  of  earnestness,  in  our  preaching.  Now 
the  great  characteristics  of  Mr.  Moody's 
preaching,  as  Professor  Blaikie,  of  Edin- 
burgh, has  well  expressed  it,  "  are  direct- 
ness, earnestness,  and  naturalness,"  or,  as  a 
beloved  brother  in  Dublin  described  it, 
"  He  does  not  wait  for  the  end  of  his  ser- 
mon to  make  the  application,  but  the  Bible 
in  his  hands  is  a  quiver,  and  every  passage 
to  which  he  refers  is  an  arrow,  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  accompanying,  he  shoots 
home  straight  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers." 

The  use  of  the  inquiry-room.  I  am 
aware  that  here  I  am  treading  on  delicate 
ground.  I  know  that  many  ministers  and 
others,  either  object  entirely  to  the  inquiry- 
room,  or  are  uncertain  about  it.  I  had,  at 
first,  the  same  difficulties  myself;  but  from 
what  I  have  lately  seen,  I  am  satisfied  it  is 
of  great  importance  to  speak,  if  possible, 
with  each  anxious  inquirer,  while  the  gos- 
pel is  still  ringing  in  his  ears — while  his 
heart  is  softened,  and  his  conscience  ten- 
der. In  this  way  we  come  to  know  what 
are  those  doubts,  and  fears,  and  difficul- 
ties which  are  keeping  the  poor  sinner 
from  Christ. 

I  regret   that  I  cannot  now  (Nov.  7) 


•  D  UBLIN. 


85 


enter  into  many  details  of  the  work  for 
the  next  week.  I  must  content  myself 
with  saying,  in  general,  that  all  the  ser- 
vices have  been  carried  on  as  usual,  the 
attendance  well  kept  up.  Indeed,  the 
number  seems  to  increase  from  day  to 
day,  and  visitors  are  coming  to  Dublin 
from  all  parts  of  Ireland  to  attend  these 
services. 

The  Bible-reading  in  the  Metropolitan 
Hall,  on  Friday,  the  30th  ult.,  was  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Moody.  It  was,  as  usual, 
densely  crowded.  The  subject  was  "  As- 
surance," and  he  showed  from  many  Scrip- 
tures that  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  child  of 
God  to  know  that  he  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life,  that  he  hath  eternal  life  abiding 
in  him. 

At  the  Exhibition  service  on  Sunday, 
Nov.  ist,  the  crowds  were  enoraious — a 
most  solemn  stillness  pervaded  that  vast 
audience  of  some  10,000  souls  as  the 
preacher  gave  a  connected  and  most 
graphic  account  of  the  history  of  our 
blessed  Lord  from  the  hour  of  His  betrayal 
by  Judas  to  His  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion to  the  Father's  right  hand.  And  he 
dwelt  forcibly  on  the  fact  that  Christians 
do  not  worship  a  dead,  but  a  livi?ig,  Christ, 
One  who  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  sinners. 

On  Thursday  and  Friday,  at  the  Bible- 
reading,  Mr.  Moody  spoke  upon  the  per- 
son, work,  and  offices  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  strongly  urged  the  necessity  of  the- 
Spirit's  anointing  for  service  for  Christ  as 
well  as  for  conversion,  which  should  be 
sought  for  by  continual  prayer. 

But  we  are  sadly  reminded  that  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  cannot  stay  always 
with  us  ;  like  the  Master  whom  they  serve, 
they  must  visit  other  cities  also — Liver- 
pool, Manchester,  etc.,  and  London.  If 
my  words  could  reach  the  ministers — 
especially  those  of  the  sister  Chifrch  of 
England — laboring  in  those  great  cities,  I 
would  earnestly  bespeak  for  our  American 
brethren  a  kindly  reception  at  their  hands. 
I  would  say,  Lay  aside  all  prejudice  as 
unjust  and  unwarranted.  Receive  them 
cordially.  Trust  them.  Help  them  with 
your  prayers  and  hearty  co-operation. 
They  are  men  of  God.  The  Spirit  of 
God  rests  upon  them.  The  love  of  God 
animates  them.  They  go  to  help  you  and 
not  to  hinder  you  in  your  work;  not  to 
make  proselytes  to  any  sect  or  denomina- 
tion, but  to  gather  in  souls  to  Christ. 
Their  motto  with  regard  to  this  is,  "  Let 


every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  where- 
in he  was  called."  You  will  find  that  you 
will  be  greatly  refreshed  in  your  own 
souls.  In  the  effect  both  upon  yourselves 
and  your  flocks,  you  will  have  abundant 
reason  to  bless  God  for  sending  them  to 
you. 

IV. 

Before  the  children's  meeting  to-day 
in  the  Exhibition  building  (Mr.  Moody 
was  taking  some  needed  rest),  I  asked  Mr. 
Sankey  how  he  thought  the  work  was  get- 
ting on  in  Dublin.  "  Oh  !"  he  said,  "  it  is 
getting  just  like  Edinburgh.  The  bless- 
ing is  becoming  like  a  great  wave.  It's 
easy  working  now." 

For  some  time,  notwithstanding  the 
huge  crowds,  our  brethren  felt  that  they 
v/ere  not  reaping  heavy  sheaves  as  they 
had  done  elsewhere.  But  the  conviction 
grows  upon  us  that  the  "  set  time  "  to 
favor  us  has  come.  The  work  is  deepening 
and  widening  every  day.  In  many  fami- 
lies with  which  I  am  intimately  acquainted, 
one  or  more  of  the  members  have  hope- 
fully turned  unto  the  Lord.  I  know  cases 
in  which  I  may  say  the  whcle  family  has 
been  brought  to  seek  salvation  as  the  one 
thing  needful.  It  is  very  observable,  too, 
how  previously  existing  prejudice  has 
abated,  or  entirely  disappeared,  at  least  in 
the  case  of  those  who  manifest  any  re- 
spect for  religion.  There  are,  of  course, 
scoffers  not  a  few.  But  it  is  truly  a  mat- 
ter of  astonishment  in  a  city  like  this,  that 
there  is  so  little  of  open  resistance  or  even 
of  ridicule. 

Our  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  as  a  rule, 
have  acted  a  noble  part.  They  have  been 
respectful ;  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  sympa- 
thizing. In  this  week's  number  of  the  Na- 
tion— an  organ  at  once  of  National  (as  it  is 
called)  and  Ultramontane  principles — an 
article  has  appeared,  entitled,  "  Fair  Play!" 
which  is  exceedingly  creditable,  and  which 
indicates  the  advent  of  a  new  day  in  Ire- 
land. The  editor  informs  his  constituents 
that  "  the  deadly  danger  of  the  age  comes 
upon  us  from  the  direction  of  Huxley  and 
Darwin  and  Tyndall,  rather  than  from 
Moody  and  Sankey.  Irish  Catholics  de- 
sire to  see  Protestants  deeply  imbued  with 
religious  feeling,  rather  than  tinged  v/ith 
rationalism  and  infidelity ;  and  as  long  as 
the  religious  services  of  our  Protestant 
neighbors  are  honestly  directed  to  quick- 
ening religious  thought  in  their  own  body, 


86 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


without  offering  aggressive  or  intentional 
insult  to  us,  it  is  our  duty  to  pay  the  hom- 
age of  our  respect  to  their  conscientious 
convictions ;  in  a  word,  to  do  as  wc  would 
be  done  l>y."  (The  italics  are  i\\e.  Naf to/is.) 
It  would  surely  be  a  bright  and  blessed 
day  for  our  country,  if  this  spirit  of  mutual 
respect  and  toleration  were  everywhere 
honestly  acted  out  amongst  us.  Mr. 
Moody  never  makes  controversial  refer- 
ence to  others.  His  success  in  attracting 
the  favorable  attention  of  our  brethren  of 
a  different  faith,  has  been  unexampled  in 
the  history  of  our  city. 

One  very  marked  feature  in  the  move- 
ment is  the  number  of  men  that  are  in- 
fluenced. Many  people  have  remarked 
the  large  proportion  of  them  that  are  in- 
quiring. 

A  few  nights  ago  an  old  gentleman, 
more  than  seventy  years  of  age,  threw 
himself  down  on  his  knees  and  sobbed 
like  a  child.  He  said,  "  I  was  utterly  care- 
less about  my  soul  till  last  night,  but  I 
have  been  so  unhappy  since,  I  could  not 
sleep.  I  seemed  to  hear  ringing  in  my 
ears,  *  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  passing  by,' 
and  if  I  don't  get  saved  now  I  never  shall 
be." 

Already  the  influence  of  this  work  has 
begun  to  tell  upon  the  most  remote  dis- 
tricts of  the  country.  Parties  of  thirty, 
fifty,  sixty,  etc.,  are  being  organized  from 
the  most  distant  parts  to  Dublin.  Many 
of  these  carry  back  with  them  much  bless- 
ing. We  hear  of  the  young  converts  wit- 
nessing for  Christ  fearlessly  in  the  trains 
on  their  way  home  from  their  meetings. 
"  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us, 
whereof  we  are  glad."  But  we  expect 
greater  things  still.  I  am  fully  confident, 
from  all  the  indications  I  see,  that  next 
week  will  be  likely  greatly  to  surpass  the 
previous  delightful  weeks  we  have  had. 
The  memory  of  these  blessed  meetings  in 
the  Metropolitan  Hall  and  the  Exhibition 
building,  will  long,  yea,  will  ever  be  fra- 
grant in  our  hearts.  I  do  not  think  we  had 
ever  such  an  antepast  of  heaven. 

The  Public  Breakfast  given  to  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  yesterday  morning, 
was,  in  every  way,  a  wonderful  meeting. 
I  heard  nearly  all  to  whom  I  spoke  on  the 
subject,  say  that  it  was  the  happiest  re- 
union they  ever  attended.  It  was  a  truly 
catholic  gathering.  Eminent  men  among 
us,  under  the  influence  of  deep  emotion, 
bore  testimony  to  the  spiritual  good  they 
had  received  at  the  meetings.     Ministers 


testified  of  the  instruction  and  quickening 
that  had  come  to  them. 

No  men — ministers,  evangelists  or  others 
— ever  before  brought  a  more  interested 
assembly  around  them  in  Dublin  than 
these  honored  servants  of  the  Lord  did 
yesterday  morning  in  the  Shelbourne 
Hotel.  And  yet  it  is  not  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey,  but  the  Christ  they  preach 
and  sing.  It  is  Christ  lifted  up  that 
draws  all  men  unto  Him.  Oh,  that  we 
might  all  learn  that  we  have  here  the  true 
and  only  uniting  power  for  Ireland. 


V. 


THE  BREAKFAST  AT  THE  SHELBOURNE 
HOTEL. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were  enter- 
tained at  a  public  breakfast  on  Friday 
morning  by  a  large  number  of  clergymen, 
and  professional  and  mercantile  gentle- 
men of  all  religious  denominations,  who 
embraced  that  opportunity  of  expressing 
their  confidence  in  them,  and  their  sym- 
pathies with  the  evangelistic  services  con- 
ducted by  them  in  Dublin.  Two  of  the 
largest  rooms  in  the  Shelbourne  Hotel 
were  completely  filled  by  the  company, 
which  numbered  about  two  hundred. 
The  object  the  gathering  evidently  had 
in  view  was  the  encouragement  of  Chris- 
tian unity,  which  every  speaker  in  the 
course  of  the  proceedings  warmly  advo- 
cated, in  the  belief  that  it  is  especially 
needful  at  the  present  time,  and  essential 
to  the  further  spread  of  the  gospel  in  this 
country.  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were 
warmly  welcomed  by  those  present,  who 
unmistakably  felt  that  the  opportunity 
which  presented  itself  on  the  occasion  for 
initiating  so  great  an  evidence  of  superi- 
ority to  sectarianism  was  one  to  be  gladly 
appropriated.  The  company-  was  thor- 
oughly representative  in  its  character, 
both  clerical  and  lay. 

Sir  Edvv.  Synge  Hutchinson,  chairman, 
called  on  Rev.  Edw.  Nangle,  of  Achill,  an 
aged  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Ireland, 
who  offered  prayer,  in  which  he  thanked 
God  that  we  are  being  drawn  out  of  our 
sectarianism,  which  is  the  great  error  and 
vice  of  our  fallen  nature  ;  and  Rev.  Ham- 
ilton Magee,  who  followed,  said  that  many 
prophets  and  righteous  men  have  desired 
to  see  the  things  we  see,  and  to  hear 
what  we  hear,  and  saw  and  heard  them 
not. 


D  UBLIN. 


87 


The  Chairman  then  introduced  the 
speakers  in  a  few  very  appropriate  remarks, 
in  which  he  said  that  the  efforts  of  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  had  his  entire  confi- 
dence. He  thanked  them  for  coming  over 
from  America,  and  believed  they  had  done 
a  great  work  in  Dublin.  He  hoped  the 
^effects  would  be  visible  after  their  visit 
came  to  a  close,  in  a  greater  evidence  of 
Christian  unity  among  all  denominations 
of  Christians  in  Ireland.  The  spirit  of 
unity  and  concord  which  had  been  brought 
about  was  delightful,  and  he  thanked  God 
every  day  for  it,  adding,  "  Let  us  be  all 
out-and-out  for  Christ." 

Rev.  W.  Fleming  Stevenson  :  If  we  are 
here  to  welcome  the  two  men  of  God  who 
have  visited  our  city,  our  welcome  is  but 
a  shallow  thing  after  all,  and  it  comes 
rather  late,  for  already  their  time  of  de- 
parture draws  nigh.  We  are  in  the  midst 
of  a  great  spiritual  movement,  which  has 
shown  itself  not  only  in  Dublin,  but 
throughout  the  land,  in  mission  weeks, 
and  many  other  ways ;  but  has  gathered 
most  of  its  force  around  our  two  brethren 
who  are  with  us  to-day.  There  are  signs 
of  such  a  spiritual  movement  as  we  have 
never  seen  before.  Everywhere,  in  tram- 
cars  and  omnibuses,  on  the  street,  and  in 
the  social  circle,  one  inquiry  is  uppermost, 
"  Have  you  been  hearing  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.''  "  In  one  small  town,  along 
way  from  Dublin,  a  party  of  thirty  was 
formed  to  come  up  to  these  meetings,  and 
their  report  brought  a  second  party  of 
sixty.  From  Cork,  and  Limerick,  and 
other  places  also,  visitors  come.  Never 
was  there  a  meeting  in  Dublin  so  repre- 
sentative as  this.  Now  what  are  we  to 
do .?  When  these  men  leave,  what  is  to 
become  of  the  work  to  which  they  have 
given  such  an  impulse  f  Having  been 
lifted  up  by  this  advancing  wave,  are  we 
to  let  another  wave  put  us  back  into  our 
respective  niches  .''  or  are  we  to  seek  such 
a  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  shall  knit 
us  together  in  the  work  of  God  .?  Surely 
it  does  not  seem  impossible  that  there 
should  be  such  a  unity  as  shall  end  in  the 
entire  bringi'.g  of  our  people  to  the  Lord. 
Has  not  our  oneness  with  Christ  another 
side .''  Does  He  not  say  to  us,  Have  you 
no  sympathy  with  Me }  Will  you  not 
gather  together  with  one  another  round 
Me,  in  sympathy  with  Me  .-'  Long  after 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  have  return- 
ed to  America,  may  they  have  the  joy  of 
hearing  that  Christians  in  Ireland  are  still 


united  in  love  and  work.  Prayer  is  to  us 
now  a  reality.  We  pray,  and  get  the 
answer  while  we  pray.  People  coming  to 
these  meetings  unconverted  have  been 
saved  while  prayer  was  being  made  for 
them.  One  thing  more.  This  work  is 
carried  on  in  entire  sympathy  with  the 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Can 
we  not  continue  banded  together  in  one, 
so  that  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  glorified  in 
our  oneness  in  work  and  spirit .? 

Mr.  Moody  said  that  was  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  kind  he  had  ever  attended.  In 
a  number  of  places  it  had  been  suggested 
to  hold  meetings  for  the  promotion  of 
unity,  and  quite  a  number  had  pressed  him 
and  Mr.  Sankey  to  have  conferences  to 
talk  about  Christian  unity;  but  the  one 
principle  upon  which  they  started  was,  that 
they  would  preach  Jesus  Christ,  believing 
that  He  would  draw  His  people  together. 
People  had  asked  him  how  they  had  got 
so  many  ministers  of  different  denomina- 
tions into  the  movement ;  his  answer  was, 
that  they  had  done  nothing  about  it.  They 
had  just  tried  to  hold  up  Christ,  and  to 
talk  of  Him  only,  knowing  that  if  that  did 
not  make  friends  rally  round  them,  nothing 
else  would.  The  question  had  been  asked, 
"  What  was  to  be  done  to  keep  up  Chris- 
tian unity.?"  He  would  tell  them.  Keep 
preaching  Christ,  and  don't  talk  about 
their  church,  or  creed,  or  doctrine,  and 
then  people  would  be  attracted  to  them  as 
sure  as  iron  filings  to  a  magnet.  By  this 
should  all  men  know  that  they  were 
Christ's  disciples,  that  they  loved  one  an- 
other. He  hoped  they  would  preach 
Christ  simply,  treating  men  not  as  of  this 
denomination  or  that,  but  as  sinners.  He 
would  leave  them  one  word,  "  Advance." 
When  General  Grant,  after  a  career  of  vic- 
tory in  the  West,  was  put  in  command  of 
the  Potomac  Army,  which  had  been  before 
invariably  defeated,  he  was  asked  to  re- 
treat. Retreat  had  been  the  constant 
word,  and  at  his  council  of  war  all  his  com- 
manders were  in  favor  of  falling  back; 
but  he  remained  silent,  and  an  hour  after, 
the  army  were  astonished  to  receive  from, 
him  the  command,  "Advance  in  solid 
column  at  daybreak."  This  was  his  coun- 
sel to  them.  They  might  have  their  differ- 
ences, but  there  was  the  one  foe,  and  they 
should  advance  in  solid  column  upon  the- 
common  enemy. 

Mr.  Sankey  said  he  blessed  God  for  hav- 
ing been  permitted  to  come  with  his 
brother  to  that  land  of  Ireland.     He  knew 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


many  of  their  countrymen  in  his  own  land, 
and  he  loved  them  dearly.  He  prayed 
that  the  blessed  unity  which  he  had  wit- 
nessed might  continue.  He  believed  that 
many  dear  men  who  were  still  outside 
the  movement  would  be  drawn  into  it.  He 
knew  of  some  who  would  be  glad  to  come 
in ;  but  they  had  their  prejudices,  and 
these  should  be  respected  ;  mistakes  had 
been  made  in  evangelical  movements, 
which  to  some  extent  might  account  for 
this.  INIr.  Sankey  then  sang  with  deep 
feeling  the  hymn,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me, 
send  me." 

Dr.  Craig  (Irish  Church)  spoke  under 
a  sense  of  the  most  solemn  responsibility. 
How  was  this  most  wonderful  work  to  be 
carried  on  1  He  thanked  God  and  Mr. 
Moody  that  he  had  been  revived  in  his 
own  soul,  and  he  knew  that  old  veterans 
had  again  taken  their  swords  to  fight  the 
Lord's  battles.  He  knew  a  man  who,  four- 
teen days  ago,  was  an  infidel,  but  had  now 
found  the  Saviour,  and  had  brought  three 
others,  who  had  also  been  saved.  He  had 
seen  a  young  lady  the  other  day  the  pic- 
ture of  despair,  now  with  a  face  shining 
like  an  angel.  A  second  Reformation  was 
taking  place  among  their  dear  Roman 
Catholic  friends.  An  experienced  Chris- 
tian had  said  to  him  that  when  these  men 
were  gone,  the  work  would  fall  to  pieces 
like  a  rope  of  sand  ;  but  he  believed  it 
would  be  far  otherwise,  for  God  had  given 
the  spirit  of  unity.  Dr.  Craig  went  on  to 
make  some  suggestions  as  to  means  for 
continuing  the  work. 

Lord  James  Butler  said  that  to  say  he 
sympathized  with  this  movement  was  un- 
necessary, for  all  there  were  met  to  give 
expression  to  that  feeling.  All  should 
thank  God  that  He  had  raised  up  men  al- 
most literally  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all 
nations.  They  must  thank  God  for  rais- 
ing up  other  men  to  organize,  and  arrange, 
and  take  places  for  these  meetings.  He 
also  thanked  God  for  the  blessing  to  his 
own  soul  through  the  teaching  of  these 
His  servants.  This  work  must  not  cease 
after  their  departure.  May  God  himself 
suggest  the  means,  for  all  our  plans  would 
be  vain  without  Him.  It  may  again  be 
said,  in  the  words  of  one  of  England's 
•martyrs,  "  A  flame  has  been  lit  in  Britain, 
which,  by  the  help  of  God,  shall  never  be 
put  out." 

Rev.  W.  Best  (Wesleyan)  spoke  of  God's 
gracious  provision  of  a  most  suitable  build- 
ing, a  valuable  committee,  a  matchless  sec- 


retary, and  a  chairman  of  such  Christian 
spirit.  He  believed  the  work  was  only  be- 
ginning; he  had  a  profound  conviction 
that  the  time  to  bless  Ireland  had  come. 
Some  of  the  work  done  by  their  brethren 
had  already  gone  before  them  to  America, 
in  souls  saved  at  these  meetings. 

Rev.  F.  Dowling  (Irish  Church),  a  man 
of  learning,  and  whose  expositions  of  Scrip- 
ture are  a  marked  feature  of  his  ministry, 
said  it  gave  him  sincere  pleasure  to  add  his 
testimony  to  this  work.  He  had  read  in 
the  papers  about  the  great  meetings  in 
Scotland  and  in  Belfast,  and  had  made  it 
a  subject  of  prayer  that  God  would  give 
a  like  blessing  in  Dublin.  Now  he  had 
seen  and  heard  these  brethren  sing  and 
preach,  and  he  felt  far  more  deeply  the 
blessedness  of  the  work.  Never  in  the 
past  history  of  their  country  had  there  been 
such  a  vindication  of  evangelic  truth. 
The  great  power  was  the  pure  and  simple 
doctrine  of  the  cross.  Jesus  said,  "  I,  if 
I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me," 
and  in  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  He  was 
still  lifted  up,  and  men  are  drawn  to  Him. 
If  one  thing  more  than  another  had  struck 
him,  it  was  the  honor  given  to  the  Per- 
sonal Word  in  heaven,  and  to  the  written 
Word  on  earth,  and  also  to  that  which  is 
the  great  mediating  power  between  God 
and  His  people,  the  Holy  Ohost  When 
the  Word  of  God  is  honored,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  honored,  there  must  be  great 
blessing.  These  men  do  not  make  much 
of  themselves.  I  thank  God  they  came, 
and  pray  that,  when  they  are  gone,  we 
shall  continue  to  work,  and  not  separate 
into  positions  of  isolation.  I  met  a  gen- 
tleman of  great  intellectual  power  at  these 
meetings,  whom  I  hardly  expected  to  find 
there.  He  said  that,  as  Mr.  Sankey  was 
singing,  he  found  the  criticism  going  off  at 
the  ends  of  his  fingers.  It  seemed  as 
though  the  Bible  were  to  Mr.  Moody  a 
great  quiver,  from  which  he  drew  out  ar- 
row after  arrow,  fitted  it  to  the  string,  and 
shot  it  right  to  the  heart ;  he  did  not  keep 
the  application  till  the  end.  He  thanked 
God  for  the  lessons  he  had  learned 
as  well  as  for  the  personal  influence 
exercised  upon  himself.  Everything  is 
greater  in  America  than  here — higher 
mountains,  broader  rivers;  it  seemed  to 
him  we  had  seen  also  the  American  energy 
and  largeness  of  these  men's  faith.  May 
God  plant  deep  in  our  souls  to  give  our- 
selves in  unreserved  surrender  to  carry  on 
this   work,  while    our  dear  brethren   are 


D  UBLIN. 


89 


doing  the  same  in  other,  and,  it  may  be, 
distant  places. 

David  Drummond,  Esq.,  gave  a  most 
satisfactory  account  of  his  treasurership. 
He  had  only  asked  two  friends  for  help, 
but  he  had  asked  God,  and  the  money  had 
come  in,  in  large  and  small  amounts,  from 
all  parts,  until  they  had  almost  all  they  re- 
quired. 

Rev.  Mr.  Wilson  (Primitive  Methodist) 
said  that,  in  all  his  spiritual  life,  he  never 
felt  so  near  heaven  as  to-day.  Souls  in 
his  own  family  had  been  blessed,  and  his 
own  soul  had  been  revived.  He  should 
be  sorry  to  think  this  great  movement  had 
reached  its  crisis  ;  the  drops  had  come, 
the  showers  would  follow.  There  is  a 
river,  clear  as  crystal,  flowing  from  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  When,  in 
one  of  our  great  battles,  the  Guards  were 
falling  by  hundreds,  and  were  entreated 
to  surrender,  they  replied,  "  The  Guards 
die,  but  never  surrender."  This  must  be 
our  motto,  "  Hold  the  fort ;  for  Jesus  is 
coming." 

Lord  Carrick  read  Phil.  iii.  20,  21,  and 
spoke  of  the  heavenly  citizenship  of  be- 
lievers, and  the  change  of  these  bodies  of 
humiliation  into  likeness  to  His  glorious 
body,  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 
He  also  reiterated  the  desire  expressed 
by  every  speaker  for  the  maintenance  of 
unity  in  heart  and  labor  for  Christ. 

Brief  addresses  were  then  delivered  by 
the  Hon.  H.  Rowley,  Revs.  Hamilton 
Magee,  Dr.  Marrable,  Dr.  Neligan,  C. 
Nangle,  and  Mr.  Hugh  Brown,  and  the 
company  then  dispersed,  the  proceedings, 
which  commenced  at  nine  o'clock,  having 
been  brought  to  a  conclusion  about  twelve. 


VL 

The  fifth  week  of  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey's  happy  visit  to  Dublin  has  now 
drawn  to  a  close,  their  unceasing  labors 
nearly  concluded,  and  we  are  now  in  a 
position  to  speak  with  confidence  both  of 
the  men  and  their  work. 

I. — THE    SERVICES   IN  THE   GREAT    EXHIBI- 
TION   PALACE. 

These  have  been  most  wonderfully  suc- 
cessful. On  Sunday  last  the  crowds  that 
flowed  from  all  parts  of  the  city  and  sub- 
urbs exceeded  anything  ever  before  wit- 
nessed in  Dublin  upon  any  occasion,  or 
for   any  purpose.      One   of  the   morning 


papers  estimated  the  numbers  present  as 
high  as  20,000,  but  it  seems  within  the 
mairk  to  say  15,000,  and  well  rewarded 
they  were  for  coming.  Very  marked  was 
the  stillness  which  reigned  throughout  that 
vast  assembly.  We  cannot  but  regard  this 
as  an  answer  to  prayer  ;  for  let  it  be  con- 
sidered that  the  doors  are  thrown  open 
for  all  to  enter,  no  charge  for  admittance. 
How  easy  would  it  be  for  a  few  evil-dis- 
posed persons  to  disturb  the  meeting  ! 
Yet  God  has,  in  His  goodness,  restrained 
them,  and  in  answer  to  prayer  :  for  Mr. 
Moody's  continual  prayer  in  the  commit- 
tee-room, before  ascending  the  platform, 
has  been,  "  O  God,  keep  the  people  still ; 
hold  the  meeting  in  Thy  hand."  On  each 
succeeding  evening  of  the  week  the  num- 
bers seem  to  steadily  increase ;  but  on  last 
night  they  reached  their  highest  point  for 
a  week-evening,  when  the  building  was 
quite  as  full  as  on  former  Sundays. 

II. — THE    NOON-DAY    PRAYER-MEETINGS 

have  continued  without  any  abatement, 
either  in  the  numbers  attending,  or  in  the 
interest  in  the  proceedings.  It  is  a  novel 
sight  in  Dublin,  but  a  most  gratifying  one, 
to  see  from  2,000  to  3,000  persons  leaving 
the  comfort  and  retirement  of  their  homes, 
to  enjoy  together  the  hour  of  prayer.  Sev- 
eral hundred  requests  for  prayer  from 
all  parts  of  Ireland,  and  some  from  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  have  been  laid  before 
the  Lord  at  each  of  these  meetings.  Yes- 
terday the  number  reached  500.  It  is  also 
pleasant  to  relate  that  many  thanksgivings 
for  mercies  received  in  answer  to  prayer 
have  been  presented  to  the  Lord. 


III. 


-THE   BIBLE-READINGS 


have  been  deeply  interesting  and  instruct- 
ive. The  first  lecture  for  this  week,  given 
on  Wednesday  in  the  Metropolitan  Hall, 
was,  "  God's  Faithfulness  to  His  Promises," 
and  Mr.  Moody  showed  from  a  large  num- 
ber of  instances,  both  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  that  God  has  ever  ful- 
filled His  own  promise,  that  "  the  Scrip- 
tures cannot  be  broken."  He  strongly 
recommended  Christians  to  study  the 
Bible  with  a  view  to  seeing  how  God  has 
fulfilled  His  promises  in  small  things  as 
well  as  in  great. 

Mr.  Moody's  subject  for  Thursday  was 
"  Daniel."  He  handled  it,  as  might  be 
expected,  with  much  ability  and  graphic 
power  showing  how  Daniel  dared  to  do 


90 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


what  was  right,  and  how  God  preserved 
and  prospered  lum.  This  lecture  was  so 
highly  appreciated  by  the  audience  that 
he  was  requested  to  give  it  again  for  the 
benefit  of  young  men,  which  he  has  kindly 
promised  to  do  at  eight  o'clock  on  Sunday 
morning. 

On  Friday,  the  reading  was  more  of  a 
miscellaneous  kind,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  young  converts  how  to  read 
the  Bible  with  most  profit,  and  to  draw 
forth  the  rich  treasures  of  knowledge  and 
comfort  which  it  contains. 

IV. — soldiers'  meeting. 

One  meeting  of  special  interest,  held 
during  the  past  week,  was  a  tea  given  by 
a  few  Christian  friends  to  about  1,500  sol- 
diers. 100  came  by  special  train  from  the 
Curragh  camp. 

Mr.  Moody  spoke  with  great  power  and 
point,  exhorting  them  to  decide  for  Christ, 
and  to  become  "  good  soldiers  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  I  am  informed  that  many  em- 
braced Christ  that  night  as  their  only 
Saviour,  including  at  least  one  officer,  who 
had  not  before  been  very  favorable  to  the 
cause  of  religion.  At  the  close  of  Mr. 
Moody's  address,  he  invited  all  those  who 
desired  that  special  prayer  should  then  be 
offered  for  them,  to  hold  up  their  hands. 
For  a  time  no  one  responded.  The 
request  being  repeated,  one  fair,  tall, 
manly  young  fellow,  with  an  honest  face 
and  expansive  brow,  standing  in  front  of 
Mr.  Moody,  took  courage,  and  lifted  up 
his  right  hand  high  in  the  air.  After  this, 
one  and  another  in  quick  succession  held 
up  theirs,  till  quite  a  number  appeared. 

meeting  for  men  only. 

One  other  meeting  I  would  refer  to — 
to  my  mind  one  of  the  most  hopeful  and 
encouraging  of  all.  I  refer  to  the  meeting 
for  men  only,  held  every  night  at  nine 
o'clock. 

On  Sunday  evening  last,  as  on  previous 
occasions,  the  Metropolitan  Hall  was  filled 
with  men,  chiefly  young  men.  There 
must  have  been  2,000  present 


VII. 

I  can  confidently  say  that  the  work  here 
intensifies  and  spreads  every  day,  I  might 
say  every  hour.  Some  of  our  more  timid 
and  cautious  friends  who  had  almost  never 
come   in   contact  with   a   great   religious 


awakening,  were  fearful,  while  we  wer 
making  our  preliminary  arrangements, 
that  it  would  be  next  to  impossible  to  keep 
up  the  interest  of  the  people  for  a  month 
or  more ;  but  the  fact  is,  the  interest  was 
never  nearly  so  great  as  it  is  this  moment; 
and  as  the  time  of  our  brethren's  depart- 
ure draws  near,  the  eagerness  to  hear 
their  every  word  and  catch  their  every 
song  is  something  wonderful  to  see.  As  I 
remarked  before,  this  eagerness  does  not 
now  proceed  from  curiosity. 

At  all  the  meetings  yesterday,  the  at- 
tendance was  enormous.  It  is  a  very 
healthful  sign  of  this  work,  that  the  Daily 
Prayer-meeting  continues  to  be  so  largely 
attended,  although  neither  Mr.  Moody  nor 
Mr.  Sankey  usually  takes  a  very  promi- 
nent part  in  it.  The  requests  for  prayer 
have  become  so  numerous,  that  it  has  been 
found  impossible  to  read  even  a  brief 
classification  of  them.  The  letters  have 
for  some  days  been  "  spread  before  the 
Lord,"  after  the  example  of  good  King 
Hezekiah,  the  meeting  uniting  in  silent 
entreaty  for  the  special  cases  sent  in. 

Hundreds  were  obliged,  yesterday,  to 
go  away  disappointed  in  their  efforts  to 
get  into  the  Bible-reading  in  the  Metro- 
politan Hall.  Mr.  Moody  reserved  his 
best  wine  to  the  last.  A  more  suggestive 
Bible  lecture  it  was  never  our  privilege  to 
hear.  We  had  a  compendium  of  some 
half  a  dozen  Bible-readings.  The  great 
bulk  of  the  people,  ministers  included, 
were  taking  notes.  It  is  given  to  few 
preachers  to  have  so  many  eager  reporters. 
Many  a  good  sermon  will  be  got  out  of 
yesterday's  addresses.  One  minister  re- 
marked that  it  was  as  good  as  an  addition 
of  many  a  good  book  to  his  library.  It  is 
calculated  that  in  the  evening  there  were 
not  less  than  12,000  persons  assembled  in 
the  Exhibition  building.  There  is  not  a 
Sabbath  service  in  any  congregation  in 
Britain  in  which  there  is  a  greater  solem- 
nity and  decorum  than  there  was  in  that 
vast  assembly.  The  sight  from  the  plat- 
form of  these  earnest,  and,  in  many  cases, 
awe-stricken  thousands,  is  one  that  it  will 
be  impossible  for  us  ever  to  forget.  Some 
one  remarked  to  me,  a  day  or  two  ago, 
how  significant  it  was  that  during  the 
severe  weather  of  last  week,  even  a  cough 
was  scarcely  heard  in  that  great-crowded 
glass  building.  When  Mr.  Sankey  sings, 
the  silence  is  sometimes  even  oppressive. 

We  are  now  engaged  in  giving  out 
tickets  for  the  Thanksgiving  meeting,  to 


DUBLIN. 


91 


be  held  on  Wednesday  evening,  the  last 
night  Mr.  Moody  has  promised  to  be  with 
us.  The  tickets  are  given  only  to  those 
who  profess  to  have  been  brought  to 
Christ  during  the  special  services.  We 
are  very  careful  in  giving  these  tickets, 
though  I  doubt  not  there  may  be  many 
stony-ground  hearers. 

We  have  had  the  help  in  this  work  of 
some  of  the  most  experienced  ministers  of 
the  gospel  in  our  city ;  and  the  general 
impression  made  on  the  minds  of  the 
brethren  who  have  taken  part  in  it,  is  of 
deep  and  intense  gratitude  for  the  many 
indubitable  tokens  of  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  regenerating  Spirit  of  God. 
About  a  thousand  tickets  have  been  already 
given  out ;  but  many  of  the  converts  have 
not  yet  applied. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  for  the 
carrying  on  of  special  prayer  and  evangel- 
istic meetings,  after  our  brethren  have 
left.  Leading  ministers  of  all  our  evan- 
gelical churches  have  thrown  themselves 
heartily  into  these  arrangements.  We 
have  felt  that  it  is  a  good  thing — good  for 
ourselves,  and  good  for  that  cause  which, 
with  all  our  imperfections,  is  dearer  to  us 
than  life — for  brethren  to  dwell  together, 
and  work  together,  in  unity. 

Mr.  H.  Drummond  writes  that  the  meet- 
ing for  young  men  last  Friday  in  the  Met- 
ropolitan Hall  was  larger  than  any  that  had 
preceded  it.  W. 


YIIL 

The  happy  visit  of  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  to  Dublin,  which  for  so  long  a  time 
has  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Chris- 
tian public,  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past. 
These  men  of  God  are  gone  from  us,  but 
the  work  remains.     That  work  consists — 

I.  I 71  a  great  general  awakening  through- 
out Dublin  and  its  neighborhood.  This 
is  a  fact  which  is  patent  to  all,  and  can- 
not be  gainsayed  or  denied.  It  is  a  fact 
that  from  12,000  to  20,000  persons  have 
been  attracted  to  the  Exhibition  Palace 
every  Sunday  afternoon  since  the  work 
began ;  that  the  attendance  at  the  services 
held  each  evening  in  the  same  place,  be- 
ginning with  some  5,000  people,  increased 
each  evening  till  it  became  as  great  as  on 
the  Sundays;  and  this  notwithstanding  an 
audience  of  from  2,000  to  2,500  had  been 
in  daily  attendance  at  the  noon  prayer- 
meeting  in  the  Metropolitan  Hall,  and  on 
three  days  in  each  week  at  the  Bible-read- 


ings at  two  o'clock  in  the  same  place. 
What  has  been  the  great  attractive  power 
which  has  drawn  together  such  vast  mul- 
titudes .''  Thank  God,  it  was  the  simple 
statement  of  gospel  truth — the  old,  old 
story  of  Jesus  and  His  love,  plainly  and 
lovingly  told. 

2.  The  bringing  in  of  some  t„ooo  converts 
to  the  fold  of  Christ.  Nearly  2,000  tickets 
were  issued  to  those  who  professed  to  have 
found  the  Lord  Jesus  as  their  Saviour  since 
these  services  began.  To  these  must  be 
added  the  many  hundreds  who  came  up 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  attend  the 
services,  and  who  found  "  joy  and  peace 
in  believing,"  some  of  whom  are  known  to 
myself,  besides  all  those  who  are  still  day 
by  day  being  added  to  the  Lord. 

3.  The  quickening  and  refreshi?tg  of 
many  hundreds  of  ittinisters  in  connection 
with  the  convention  held  this  week.  It  was 
a  happy  thought  to  bring  so  many  ministers 
of  the  various  evangelical  denominations 
together  at  this  time.  It  afforded  them  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  with  their  own  eyes 
the  reality  of  this  great  work  of  God  which 
is  going  on  around  us,  getting  their  own 
hearts  warmed  up  afresh,  and  thus  of  be- 
coming, when  they  return  home,  more  than 
ever  centres  of  spiritual  light  and  heat  in 
their  own  parishes  and  districts. 


IX. 

The  visit  of  the  American  evangelists, 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  terminated  on 
Thursday,  and  with  it  a  series  of  religious 
services  which  have  marked  the  progress 
of  a  movement  the  most  remarkable  ever 
witnessed  in  Ireland.  There  have  been  at 
various  times  so-called  "  revivals,"  which 
have  cast  a  flood  of  devotional  feeling  over 
the  country,  but  their  influence  was  only 
transient — they  left  but  little  trace  of  any 
permanent  eff'ect.  This  new  mission  has 
been  of  a  character  essentially  different,  and 
seemed  to  possess  elements  of  vitality  which 
were  wanting  in  others.  There  was  nothing 
sensational,  though  much  that  was  novel 
and  attractive,  in  the  nature  of  the  services 
and  the  mode  of  conducting  thern.  Mr. 
Moody,  as  a  preacher,  is  certainly  not  su- 
perior, if  he  is  not  very  inferior,  in  erudi- 
tion and  intellectual  gifts,  to  the  average 
class  of  educated  clergymen.  He  is  elo- 
quent, or  he  would  have  no  power ;  but 
his  eloquence  is  far  from  being  of  an  ele- 
vated style.     It   is  remarkable  rather  for 


92 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL, 


great  volubility  and  fervor  than  for  the 
higher  qualities  of  a  pulpit  orator.  It  has 
no  pretension  to  elegance  of  diction,  beauty 
of  illustration,  harmonious  arrangement,  or 
logical  force.  His  sermons  would  not 
stand  the  test  of  ordinary  criticism.  His 
language  is  plain  and  homely,  not  always 
very  accurate,  and  sometimes  containing 
colloquial  phrase  more  popular  than  re- 
fined. Thus  there  will  appear  to  be  a  con- 
siderable balance  of  disadvantages  against 
him. 

How,  then,  is  his  marvelous  success  to 
be  explained  1  His  great  earnestness  is, 
perhaps,  the  secret  of  it.  His  heart  as 
well  as  his  head  seems  to  be  full  of  his 
subject,  and  he  has  no  difficulty  in  giv- 
ing effective  expression  to  his  thoughts. 
The  evident  absence  of  any  effort  at 
self-display,  but  rather  a  sensitive  avoid- 
ance of  it,  helps  to  obtain  for  him  a 
favorable  reception,  and  he  never  fails  to 
keep  the  attention  of  a  vast  multitude 
riveted,  and  to  enlist  their  feelings  by  the 
ready  flow  of  his  discourses,  in  which  per- 
suasion and  argument  were  blended  with 
many  apt  illustrations  and  personal  in- 
cidents. He  has  an  inexhaustible  fund  of 
anecdote,  and  in  some  of  his  earlier  ser- 
mons here  he  appeared  to  draw  upon  it 
rather  freely,  but  he  soon  came  to  under- 
stand that  his  audience  did  not  quite  rel- 
ish so  abundant  a  supply,  though  his 
stories  were  generally  of  some  interest,  and 
were  told  with  dramatic  effect.  He  always 
selected  some  striking  passage  of  Scripture 
for  his  text,  and  expounded  it  with  great 
simplicity,  but  with  keen  intelligence  and 
a  discreet  and  earnest  power,  which  pro- 
duced a  visible  impression. 

Mr.  Sankey  possesses  a  voice  of  great 
volume,  and  he  manages  it  with  much 
skill,  though  it  has  not  been  properly 
educated.  His  utterance  is  remarkably 
distinct,  and  he  is  able  by  himself  to  fill 
with  vocal  sound  a  building  in  which  from 
10,000  to  15,000  people  are  congregated. 
He  accompanies  himself  with  a  small  har- 
monium. He  takes  up  some  sentiment 
which  Mr.  Moody  has  illustrated,  and 
presents  it  anew,  invested  with  the  attrac- 
tions and  sympathetic  influence  of  music, 
and  so  fixes  it  more  deeply  in  the  heart  as 
well  as  the  memory.  There  is  a  special 
collection  of  hymns,  set  to  airs  which  catch 
at  once  the  popular  ear.  Some  of  them 
are  original,  others  are  modifications  of 
familiar  songs,  but  all  appear  to  be  in  the 
highest  favor,  though  there  is  no  poetry  in 


them,  and  though  even  their  orthodoxy 
may  be  doubted  in  one  or  two  points. 
The  singing  of  Mr.  Sankey's  solos,  how- 
ever, with  touching  solemnity,  had  an  ef- 
fect not  less  marvelous  in  its  way  than 
the  united  voices  of  the  immense  congre- 
gation, led  by  a  trained  choir,  in  the  de 
livery  of  other  hymns.  There  is  an  in 
dividual  character  stamped  upon  them 
which  made  them  appear  to  express  the 
feelings  of  each  separate  person,  and  not 
of  the  whole  collective  mass. 

The  services  were  characterized  by  a 
reverence  and  devotion  which  were  extra- 
ordinary, considering  that  the  multitude 
was  composed  of  literally  every  creed  and 
class,  and  that  many  hundreds  Avho  pressed 
for  admission  two  hours  before  the  doors 
were  opened  were  attracted  only  by  curi- 
osity, and  some  by  a  love  of  amusement, 
conceiving  ^that  they  would  find  in  the 
proceedings'  something  to  excite  their  ridi- 
cule. But  the  first  prayer  or  the  reading 
of  a  passage  of  Scripture,  and  still  more 
surely  the  fervid  exhortations  of  Mr. 
Moody,  whose  manner,  tone,  and  words 
brought  home  to  all  the  conviction  that  he 
at  least  was  terribly  in  earnest,  dispelled  all 
ideas  of  the  ludicrous,  and  made  the  most 
light-hearted  and  careless  youths  listen 
with  deep  attention  and  apparent  interest 
There  was  something  very  impressive  in 
the  breathless  stillness  which  pervaded 
the  vast  assemblage  covering  the  whole 
area  of  the  Exhibition  Palace  from  end  to 
end  during  the  delivery  of  Mr.  Moody's 
most  solemn  utterances,  or  Mr.  Sankey's 
plaintive  songs.  There  were  no  demon- 
strations of  emotion  such  as  may  be  seen 
in  other  revival  meetings — no  apparent 
excitement,  but  a  very  marked  and  uni- 
versal reverence,  and  also  an  enthusiasm 
which  was  all  the  more  intense  because  it 
was  subdued. 

Let  those  who  think  they  can  do  so,  ac- 
count for  the  movement,  and  explain,  if 
they  can,  what  it  is  which  brought  together 
such  immense  congregations  every  day  for 
nearly  six  weeks,  and  produced  such  extra- 
ordinary effects.  The  fact  itself  is  mem- 
orable and  suggestive. 

The  organization  was  admirable.  There 
were  numerous  services  of  different  kind? 
each  day,  intended  for  different  classes  and 
conditions  of  people.  Some  were  in  the 
Metropolitan  Hall,  but  the  principal  were 
in  the  Exhibition  Palace,  which  can  accom- 
modate from  10,000  to  15,000  people  at 
least  in  the  Great  Transept  and  the   l.ein- 


DUBLIN. 


^Z 


ster  Hall.  There  was  a  platform  erected 
at  the  angle  where  the  two  halls  meet,  and 
on  this  were  clergymen  of  different  denom- 
inations, who  took  part  in  the  services  ; 
and,  as  already  stated,  there  was  a  choir 
of  trained  voices.  Persons  were  also  ap- 
pointed to  meet  "  inquirers "  after  the 
meetings  were  over  and  try  to  fix  in  their 
minds  the  impressions  left  by  the  services. 
There  was  no  attempt  made  to  win  pro- 
selytes for  any  particular  church,  and  not 
the  faintest  allusion  to  any  of  the  distinc- 
tive characteristics  of  sects  and  creeds. 
The  result  v/as,  that  Protestants  and  Ro- 
man Catholics,  Christians  and  Jews,  Pres- 
byterians, Methodists,  Moravians,  Arians, 
and  Quakers,  were  all  mingled  in  the  great 
assembly,  and  all  seemed  equally  im- 
pressed. 

The  presence  of  over  750  clergymen  of 
various  communions,  in  answer  to  the 
invitation  of  the  Committee  who  have 
taken  charge  of  the  work,  is  a  significant 
proof  of  the  success  of  the  movement.  At 
the  convention  and  a  private  conference 
held  yesterday  at  the  close  of  the  series  of 
meetings,  arrangements  were  made  for  car- 
rying on  the  work  which  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  began.  The  two  "evangel- 
ists "  have  gone  to  England,  and  intend  to 
make  Manchester  their  next  field  of  opera- 
tions. 


X. 

To  THE  majority  of  people  the  fact  that 
between  four  and  five  thousand  men  and 
women  assembled  in  a  public  hall  at  eight 
o'clock  on  a  frosty  morning  in  December, 
will  \>t  prima  facie  evidence  that  they  were 
very  much  in  earnest  about  the  business 
they  had  in  hand.  There  were  nearly  five 
thousand  persons  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall 
here  this  (Sunday)  morning,  to  hear  the 
"  American  evangelists,"  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey.  I  arrived  at  a  quarter  to 
eight,  under  the  impression  that  I  was 
rather  early  than  otherwise.  But  I  hear 
that  at  seven  o'clock  the  approaches  to  the 
still  closed  doors  of  the  hall  were  thronged, 
and  the  people  waiting  patiently  under  the 
bleak  sky,  through  which  the  morning 
light  was  struggling.  I  know  that  I  had 
to  stand  during  the  whole  of  the  service, 
being  one  of  a  crowd  wedged  in  the  pas- 
sages between  the  closely-packed  benches. 
Every  available  seat  was  long  ago  occupied. 
The  galleries  were  thronged,  and  even  the 
balconies  at  the  rear  of  the  hall  were  full 


to  overflowing.  The  audience  were,  I 
should  say,  pretty  equally  divided  in  the 
matter  of  sex,  and  were  apparently  of  the 
class  of  small  tradesmen,  clerks,  and  well- 
to-do  mechanics  ;  that  was  the  general 
class  of  the  morning  congregation.  But 
it  must  not,  therefore,  be  understood  that 
the  upper  class  in  Manchester  stand  aloof 
from  the  special  services  of  the  American 
gentlemen.  In  the  afternoon  meeting  ele- 
gantly-attired ladies  and  gentlemen,  wear- 
ing spotless  kid  gloves  and  coats  of  irre- 
proachable cut,  struggled  for  a  place  in 
the  mighty  throng  that  streamed  into  the 
hall  when  the  doors  were  thrown  open. 

Punctually  at  eight  o'clock  the  meeting 
was  opened  by  one  of  the  local  clergymen, 
who  prayed  for  a  blessing  on  the  day  and 
the  work,  declaring,  amid  subdued  but 
triumphant  cries  from  portions  of  the  con- 
gregation, that  "  The  Lord  has  risen  in- 
deed !  Now  is  the  stone  rolled  away  from 
the  sepulchre,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
at  hand."  Mr.  Moody,  who  sat  at  a  small 
desk  in  front  of  the  platform,  then  ad- 
vanced and  gave  out  the  hymn,  "  Guide 
us,  O  Thou  great  Jehovah,"  the  singing  of 
which  Mr.  Sankey,  sitting  before  a  small 
harmonium,  led  and  accompanied,  the  vast 
congregation  joining  with  great  heartiness. 
"  Mr.  Sankey  will  now  sing  a  hymn  by 
himself,"  said  Mr.  Moody  ;  and  Mr. 
Sankey  broke  in  with  the  first  line  of  the 
hymn,  "  What  are  you  going  to  do,  bro- 
ther .?  "  After  this  solo,  he  began  to  play 
a  tune  well  known  at  these  meetings,  into 
which  the  congregation  struck  with  one 
mighty  voice.  The  hymn  would  probably 
excite  the  unfavorable  criticism  of  Dr. 
Eadie,  if  it  were  proposed  to  insert  it  in 
the  Hymnal  of  the  Scotch  Kirk,  being 
amenable  to  some  of  the  objections 
quoted  in  a  recent  newspaper  article  as  hav- 
ing been  urged  before  the  Glasgow  Pres- 
bytery by  the  reverend  Doctor.  The 
words  have  a  martial,  inspiriting  sound, 
and  as  the  verse  rolled  forth,  filling  the 
great  hall  with  a  mighty  and  musical  noise, 
one  could  see  the  eyes  of  strong  men  fill 
with  tears. 

Ho,  my  comrades,  see  the  signal 

Waving  in  the  sky  ! 
Reinforcements  now  appearing, 

Victory  is  nigh ! 
"  Hold  the  fort,  for  I  am  coming," 

Jesus  signals  still  ; 
Wave  the  answer  back  to  heaven, 

"  By  Thy  grace  we  will." 

The  subject  of  Mr.  Moody's  address  was 
"  Daniel."    One  might  converse  for  an  hour 


94 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


with  Mr.  Moody  without  discovering  from 
his  accent  that  he  was  from  the  United 
States.  But  it  is  unmistakeable  when  he 
preaches,  and  especially  in  the  colloquies 
supposed  to  have  taken  place  between 
characters  in  the  Bible  and  elsewhere. 
He  began  his  discourse  this  morning  with- 
out other  preface  than  a  half  apology  for 
selecting  a  subject  which,  it  might  be  sup- 
posed, everybody  knew  everything  about. 
But,  for  his  part,  he  liked  to  take  out  and 
look  upon  the  photographs  of  old  friends, 
when  they  were  far  away,  and  he  hoped 
that  his  hearers  would  not  think  it  waste 
of  time  to  take  another  look  at  the  picture 
of  Daniel.  There  was  one  peculiarity 
about  Daniel,  and  that  was  that  there  was 
nothing  against  his  character  to  be  found 
all  through  the  Bible.  Nowadays,  when 
men  write  biographies,  they  throw  Avhat 
they  call  the  veil  of  charity  over  the  dark 
spots  in  a  career.  But  when  God  writes  a 
man's  life.  He  puts  it  all  in.  So  it  hap- 
pened that  we  find  very  few,  even  of  the 
best  men  in  the  Bible,  without  their  times 
of  sin.  But  Daniel  came  out  spotless,  and 
the  preacher  attributed  his  exceptionally 
bright  life  to  the  power  of  saying  "  No." 

After  this  exordium  Mr.  Moody  pro- 
ceeded to  tell  in  his  own  words  the  story 
of  the  life  of  Daniel.  Listening  to  him,  it 
was  not  difficult  to  comprehend  the  secret 
of  his  great  power  over  the  masses.  Like 
Bunyan,  he  has  the  great  gift  of  being  able 
to  realize  things  unseen,  and  to  describe 
his  vision  in  familiar  language  to  those 
whom  he  addresses.  I  am  afraid  his  no- 
tion of  "  Babylon,  that  great  city,"  would 
barely  stand  the  test  of  historic  research. 
But  that  there  really  was  in  far-off  days  a 
great  city  called  Babylon,  in  which  men 
bustled  about,  ate  and  drank,  schemed  and 
plotted,  and  were  finally  overruled  by  the 
visible  hand  of  God,  he  made  as  clear  to 
the  listening  congregation  as  if  he  were 
talking  about  Chicago.  He  filled  the  lay 
figures  with  life,  clothed  them  with  gar- 
ments, and  then  made  them  talk  to  each 
other  in  the  English  language  as  it  is  to- 
day accented  in  some  of  the  American 
States. 

The  story  of  Daniel  is  one  peculiarly 
susceptible  of  Mr.  Moody's  usual  method 
of  treatment,  and  for  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  he  kept  the  congregation  enthralled 
whilst  he  told  how  Daniel's  simple  fai:h 
triumphed  over  the  machinations  of  the  un- 
believer. Mr.  Moody's  style  is  unlike  that 
of  most  religious  revivalists.     He  neither 


shouts  nor  gesticulates,  and  mentioned 
"  hell  "  only  once,  and  that  was  in  connec- 
tion with  the  life  the  drunkard  makes  for 
himself  His  manner  is  reflected  by  the 
congregation,  in  respect  of  abstention  from 
working  themselves  up  into  "  a  state." 
But  this  makes  all  the  more  impressive  the 
signs  of  genuine  emotion  which  follow 
and  accompany  the  preacher's  utterance. 
When  he  was  picturing  the  scene  of 
Daniel  translating  the  King's  dream, 
rapidly  repeating  Daniel's  account  of  the 
dream,  and  Nebuchadnezzar's  quick  and 
delighted  ejaculation,  "  That's  so !  " 
"  That's  it !  "  as  he  recognized  the  inci- 
dents, I  fancy  it  was  not  without  difficulty 
some  of  the  people,  bending  forward  and 
listening  with  glistening  eye  and  heighten- 
ed color,  refrained  from  clapping  their 
hands  for  glee  that  the  faithful  Daniel,  the 
unyielding  servant  of  God,  had  triumphed 
over  tribulation,  and  had  walked  out  of 
prison  to  take  his  place  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  king.  There  was  not  much  exhor- 
tation throughout  the  discourse,  and  not 
the  slightest  reference  to  any  disputed 
point  of  doctrine.  The  discourse  was 
nothing  more  than  a  re-telling  of  the  story 
of  Daniel.  But  whilst  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Daniel,  Shadrach,  Meshach,  Abednego, 
Darius,  and  even  the  120  princes,  became 
for  the  congregation  living  and  moving 
beings,  all  the  ends  of  the  narrative  were, 
with  probably  unconscious,  certainly  un- 
betrayed,  art,  gathered  together  to  lead  up 
to  the  one  lesson,  that  compromise,  where 
truth  and  religion  are  concerned,  is  never 
worthy  of  those  who  profess  to  believe 
God's  word. 

"  I  am  sick  of  the  shams  of  the  present 
day,"  said  Mr.  Moody,  bringing  his  dis- 
course to  a  sudden  close.  "  I  am  tired  of 
the  way  men  parley  with  the  world  whilst 
they  are  holding  out  their  hands  to  be 
lifted  into  heaven.  If  we  are  going  to  be 
good  Christians  and  God's  people,  let  us 
be  so  out-and-out. 

Last  night  I  heard  him  deliver  an  ad- 
dress in  one  of  the  densely-populated  dis- 
tricts of  Salford.  Admission  to  the  chapel 
in  which  the  service  was  held  was  exclu- 
sively confined  to  women,  and,  notwith- 
standing that  it  was  Saturday  night,  there 
were  at  least  a  thousand  sober-looking 
and  respectably-dressed  women  present. 
The  subject  of  the  discussion  was  Christ's 
conversation  with  Nicodemus,  whose  social 
position  Mr.  Moody  incidentally  made  rec- 
ognizable by  the  congregation  by  observ- 


DUBLIN. 


95 


ing  that  "  if  he  had  lived  in  these  days  he 
would  have  been  a  doctor  of  divinity, 
Nicodemus,  D.D.,  or  perhaps  LL.D." 
His  purpose  was  to  make  it  clear  that  men 
were  saved,  not  by  any  action  of  their 
own,  but  simply  by  faith.  This  he  illus- 
trated, among  other  ways,  by  introducing 
a  domestic  scene  from  the  life  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  in  the  wilderness  at  the 
time  the  brazen  serpent  was  lifted  up.  The 
dramatis  personce  were  a  young  convert,  a 
skeptic,  and  the  skeptic's  mother.  The 
convert,  who  has  been  bitten  by  the  ser- 
pent, and,  having  followed  Moses'  injunc- 
tion, is  cured,  "comes  along,"  and  finds 
the  skeptic  lying  down  "badly  bitten." 
He  entreats  him  to  look  upon  the  brazen 
serpent  which  Moses  has  lifted  up,  but  the 
skeptic  has  no  faith  in  the  alleged  cure, 
and  refuses.  "  Do  you  think,"  he  says, 
"  I'm  going  to  be  saved  by  looking  at  a 
brass  serpent  away  off  on  a  pole.?  No, 
no."  "  Well,  I  don't  know,"  says  the 
young  convert,  "  but  I  was  saved  that  way 
myself  Don't  you  think  you'd  better  try 
it .?"  The  skeptic  refuses,  and  his  mother 
"  comes  along,"  and  observes,  "  Hadn't 
you  better  look  at  it,  my  boy  .•*"  "  Well, 
mother,  the  fact  is,  that  if  I  could  under- 
stand the  philosophy  of  it  I  would  look  up 
right  off;  but  I  don't  see  how  a  brass  ser- 
pent away  off  on  a  pole  can  cure  me." 
And  so  he  dies  in  his  unbelief.     • 

It  seemed  odd  to  hear  this  conversation 
from  the  wilderness  recited,  word  for  word, 
in  the  American  vernacular,  and  with  a 
local  coloring  that  suggested  that  both  the 
skeptic  and  the  young  convert  wore  tail 


coats,  and  that  the  mother  had  to  "  come 
along "  in  a  stuff  dress.  But  when  the 
preacher  turned  aside,  and  in  a  very  few 
words  spoke  of  sons  who  would  not  hear 
the  counsel  of  Christian  mothers,  and  re- 
fused to  "look  up  and  live,"  the  silent 
tears  that  coursed  down  many  a  face  in 
the  congregation  showed  that  his  homely 
picture  had  been  clear  to  the  eyes  before  ' 
which  it  was  held  up. 


XL 

The  labors  of  the  Evangelists  closed 
with  a  three  days'  convention,  which  was 
attended  by  800  ministers,  from  all  parts 
of  Ireland,  besides  thousands  of  the  gen- 
eral public.  The  first  day  was  devoted  to 
discussions  on  the  following  topics : — 
"  Praise  and  Thanksgiving,"  "  How  are 
the  masses  to  be  reached,"  "  What  can  be 
done  to  promote  the  Lord's  work  through- 
out Ireland,"  etc.  The  second  day  was 
signalized  by  a  gathering  of  over  2,000  con- 
verts, to  whom  Mr.  Moody  addressed  lov- 
ing counsels,  and  on  the  third  day  there 
was  another  gathering  of  the  ministers  in 
Exhibition  Palace.  And  thus  terminated 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  gatherings 
ever  held  in  Dublin.  Mutual  love  and 
courtesy  marked  all  the  proceedings. 
Strangers  could  not  tell  to  what  body 
of  Christians  many  of  the  speakers  be- 
longed. 

The  labors  of  the  Evangelists  in  Ireland 
were  ended,  and  on  Sunday,  the  29th  of 
November,  at  Manchester,  they  began 
their  new  work  in  England. 


THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


THE    FIRST  WEEK    IN    MANCHESTER. 


I. 

November  and  Deceitiber. — Our  dear 
brethren  have  come  among  us  in  dark,  win- 
try weather,  but  there  has  been  no  gloom 
or  coldness  in  any  of  their  meetings,  nor 
have  rain  or  fog  diminished  the  crowds 
that  flocked  to  hear  them.  They  have 
evidently  come  "  in  the  fullness  of  the 
blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,"  and 
they  have  found  awaiting  them,  to  all 
appearance,  "  a  people  prepared  for  the 
Lord." 

Many  thousands  of  Christian  people 
have  been  praying  for  Manchester,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  prayers  have 
risen  to  God  from  Manchester  herself  for 
a  blessing  on  the  labors  of  His  servants. 
The  preparatory  w'ork,  indeed,  has  been 
going  on  all  the  year,  especially  since  the 
month  of  April,  when  united  evangelistic 
services  were  held  in  almost  all  the  Non- 
conformist places  of  worship  throughout 
the  district.  These  preparatory  meetings 
were  brought  to  a  close  last  Saturday, 
with  a  Communion  service,  in  which  up- 
wards of  2,000  Christians  of  various  de- 
nominations joined. 

You  have  been  told  something  of  the 
meeting  for  workers  on  Sunday  morning. 
To  those  who  know  the  ordinary  habits 
of  Manchester,  the  attendance  was  aston- 
ishing, numbering  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
2,500  persons.  Most  of  these  had  walked 
distances  varying  from  one  to  three  miles, 
some  far  more,  though  the  rain  fell  in  tor- 
rents through  a  thick,  cold  fog. 

The  work  has  been  going  on  since, 
much  as  it  did  during  the  first  week  or 
fortnight  in  Dublin,  and  in  other  places. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  have  already  made  a  most 
favorable  impression  upon  a  large  portion 
of  the  Christian  public  of  our  city.  The 
charm  of  Mr.  Sankey's  affectionate  nature 
has  been  felt  by  many,  as  well  as  the 
power  of  his  gift  of  song.  The  gifts 
which  fit  Mr.  Moody  to  be  the  leader  of  a 
religious  movement  like  the  present  are 
recognized  by  every  one.     Men  accustom- 


ed to  authority  willingly  put  themselves 
under  his  orders.  He  inspires  confidence. 
All  feel  at  once  his  practical  good  sense 
and  singleness  of  purpose.  Among  his 
natural  endowments  is  a  power  of  pathos 
which  must  tell  everywhere,  but  will  tell 
especially  upon  a  Lancashire  audience.  It 
seems  to  lay  hold  of  the  men  even  more  than 
of  the  women.  In  his  energetic,  vigorous 
nature  there  is  a  great  depth  of  tender- 
ness, which  now  and  then  breaks  forth  in 
his  addresses  with  extraordinary  power. 
Above  all,  he  feels  and  speaks  as  though 
he  felt  that  the  excellency  of  the  power  is 
of  God,  and  not  of  us. 

The  crowds  which  flock  to  hear  our 
friends,  if  they  do  not  increase,  continue 
undiminished.  Already  not  a  few  have 
found  peace  in  Jesus  through  their  w'ord. 
Mr.  Moody  has  more  than  once  said  in 
public,  that  nowhere,  during  the  first  week 
of  his  labors,  have  such  meetings  been 
held  as  in  Manchester.  Still  it  would  be 
folly  to  suppose  that  the  work  as  yet  is 
more  than  just  beginning.  The  masses, 
the  general  public,  are  still  almost  un- 
touched. Manchester  is  tenacious  of  the 
right  of  indepeadent  judgment,  and  will 
make  up  her  mind  for  herself.  And  more 
than  this,  the  process  with  the  Lancashire 
public  is  somewhat  slow.  Beneath  an 
apparent  mobility,  which  may  easily  de- 
ceive a  stranger,  there  is  a  cast  of  thought 
and  feeling  strongly  conservative.  When 
one  thinks  of  the  enormous  population 
gathered  in  our  city  and  the  circumjacent 
towns,  one  cannot  forbear  the  wish  that 
the  visit  of  our  friends  could  be  prolonged, 
at  least,  a  few  weeks  beyond  the  too  brief 
month  which  they  have  promised  us. 


II. 

The  first  week  of  the  meetings  in  Man- 
chester has  been  full  of  good  omen.  The 
work  of  God  for  which  we  have  so  long 
prayed  and  waited  has  opened  with  power. 
God  is  bending  in  blessing  over  the  city. 
An  awakening  and  reviving  breath  from 


MANCHESTER. 


97 


heaven  has  for  some  time  been  felt  on  the 
face  of  the  churches.  For  months  past 
strong  suppUcation  has  gone  up  to  the 
throne  from  the  noon  and  other  prayer- 
meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  city ;  and 
the  churches  have  been  gradually  drawing 
closer  together  under  the  influence  of  the 
hope  of  revival.  This  spirit  of  union 
found  delightful  expression  in  the  Com- 
munion services  held  in  two  central  chap- 
els last  Saturday  week.  Over  2,000  mem- 
bers from  many  churches  gathered  around 
the  Lord's  table  to  enjoy  a  hallowed  sea- 
son of  fellowship  with  each  other  and  with 
the  Head  of  the  Church.  The  heartfelt 
greetings  between  brethren  of  different  de- 
nominations told  how  truly  the  bond  of 
union  in  Jesus  was  felt,  and  how  really  the 
Church  of  Christ  was  one,  though  varied 
in  its  outward  aspect  to  the  world. 

On  Sunday  week,  notwithstanding  the 
drenching  rain,  the  Oxford  Hall  was  filled 
with  Christian  workers  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  hundreds  were  unable  to 
gain  admission.  Mr.  Moody  delivered  an 
inspiring  address  on  "  Courage,  Persever- 
ance, and  Love,"  as  the  three  requisites  of 
all  workers  for  God.  "  All  the  men  whom 
God  used  in  Scripture  times  were  cour- 
ageous men.  God  could  not  use  a  man 
destitute  of  courage.  When  Elijah  fell 
into  despondency  under  the  juniper-tree, 
God  had  to  find  another  man ;  Noah 
worked  for  120  years  without  seeing  re- 
sults, and  yet  never  got  discouraged.  We 
v/ere  to  be  sure  God  called  us  to  the  v/ork. 
When  Moses  went  out  to  deliver  his  breth- 
ren before  God  sent  him,  *  he  looked  this 
way  and  that  way  ;'  but  a  man  whom  God 
has  sent  never  needs  to  look  over  his 
shoulder ;  straight  forward  is  the  word  for 
him."  Sharp,  graphic,  clinging  utterances 
like  these  sparkled  out  all  over  his  animat- 
ing address,  which  was  followed  up  by 
Mr.  Sankey  singing,  "  Here  am  I ;  send 
me." 

The  afternoon  meetings  were  still  more 
remarkable.  The  incessant  rain  had  not 
abated,  yet  the  overflow^  after  the  filling  of 
the  Oxford  Hall,  crowded  the  Free  Trade 
Hall,  where  the  service  was  carried  on  by 
various  ministers  till  the  American  breth- 
ren arrived  from  the  other  gathering.  Mr. 
Moody's  bright  and  practical  exposition  of 
"  the  gospel  "  was  listened  to  with  lively  at- 
tention. A  mighty  interest  was  gathering, 
which  broke  forth  with  wonderful  power  on 
the  following  evening.  That  Monday 
evening  meeting  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall 


will  live  long  in  the  memories  of  those  v/ho 
witnessed  it.  None  could  withstand  the 
conviction  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  oper- 
ating in  the  solemnized  assembly  as  they 
beheld,  under  the  influence  that  swayed  the 
meeting  during  Mr.  Moody's  appeals,  busi- 
ness men,  one  after  another,  rising  to  be 
prayed  for.  The  address  had  been  grow- 
ing in  earnestness  ;  the  speaker  seemed  to 
come  into  contact  with  the  souls  of  the 
people  before  him.  He  requested  any 
who  wished  to  be  prayed  for  to  rise.  He 
quietly  repeated  the  invitation.  One  was 
seen  to  stand  in  the  left-hand  gallery  and 
cover  his  face  with  his  hands ;  another  in 
the  area.  Mr.  Moody  said  solemnly,"There 
is  one  risen ;  thank  God  for  that.  An- 
other ;  and  another.  Christians,  keep  on 
praying.  Another.  Jesus  is  passing  by. 
You  may  never  have  such  an  opportunity 
again.  You  may  never  again  have  so 
many  Christians  praying  for  you."  Before 
many  minutes,  people  were  standing  in  all 
parts  of  the  hall,  amid  deep  silence,  broken 
only  by  a  hushed  response  at  each  new  ap- 
peal for  continued  prayer.  At  the  close  of 
the  meeting  the  anxious  ones  were  invited 
into  the  inquiry-rooms,  where  Mr.  Moody 
conversed  with  them  individually.  He 
said  afterwards  that  it  was  the  best  meeting 
he  had  known  on  the  second  day  of  a 
series.  The  crowds  unable  to  obtain  ac- 
cess to  the  Free  Trade  Hall  filled  the  Ox- 
ford Hall,  where  a  solemn  service  was  con- 
ducted by  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Murray.  Mr. 
Sankey  came  from  the  larger  gathering  to 
speak  a  few  words,  and  to  sing  "  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  passeth  by." 

The  evenings  of  Tuesday,  Wednesday, 
and  Thursday  were  devoted  to  meetings 
for  men  in  the  Oxford  Hall.  Being  obliged 
to  attend  the  overflow  meetings,  the  writer 
was  present  only  on  the  latter  occasion. 
The  clear  exposition  of  God's  way  of  sal- 
vation by  faith,  and  not  by  works,  illus- 
trated and  enforced  by  an  admirable  and 
telling  use  of  Scripture  and  by  graphic  and 
pathetic  story,  wonderfully  moved  the 
great  throng  of  men.  Many  shook  with 
uncontrollable  emotion,  and  much  occa- 
sion for  delightful  labor  was  found  in- the 
inquiry-room.  A  man  with  whom  the 
writer  conversed,  rose  from  his  knees, 
where  he  had  committed  "his  whole  self" 
to  Christ,  and  said,  "  I  came  from  Bolton 
to-day.  I  did  not  think  I  should  find 
Christ."  A  brother  minister  brought  up 
another  young  convert.  It  was  this  man's 
nephew  who  had  just  found  peace.     The 


98 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


two  greeted  each  other  with  joyful  sur- 
prise. 

Afternoon  meetings  for  women  have 
been  held  in  the  Rev.  A.  McLaren's 
chapel,  Oxford  road.  It  is  strange  to  ob- 
serve them  thronging  the  road  on  their 
way  to  the  chapel,  and  still  more  strange 
to  see  them  occupying  all  the  available 
standing-room  in  the  spacious  building. 
Not  less  than  2,000  women  were  present 
on  Tuesday  afternoon.  These  meetings, 
like  all  the  rest,  increase  in  power  as  they 
proceed,  and  on  Thursday,  when  Mr. 
Moody  entered  the  lecture  hall,  he  found  it 
filled  with  weeping,  kneeling  inquirers. 
Many  left  with  the  joy  of  pardon  on  their 
spirits. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  has,  with  one 
exception,  been  held  in  the  Free  Trade 
Hall,  with  an  attendance  of  from  2,000  to 
3,000.  In  these  meetings  may  be  found 
the  soul  of  the  movement.  It  is  the  daily 
united  cry  to  God  which  brings  upon  the 
city  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  con- 
viction and  conversion.  On  Thursday, 
dealing  with  the  objection  that  this  work  is 
not  of  God,  Mr.  Moody  said,  "  What  do 
these  noon  prayer-meetings  mean  }  What 
do  men  come  here  by  hundreds,  I  might 
say  by  thousands,  to  pray  for }  A  genuine 
work  of  God.  And  will  He  give  us  a 
counterfeit  .-*  If  we  ask  bread  will  He 
give  us  a  stone.?  The  Shunammite  fell  at 
the  feet  of  Elisha  and  said,  '  As  the  Lord 
thy  God  liveth  I  will  not  leave  thee.'  She 
wasn't  going  to  trust  in  that  old  staff,  nor 
in  the  servant.  She  would  trust  only  in 
the  master  ;  and  well  it  was  for  her,  or  she 
would  never  have  got  back  her  child.  And 
the  prayer-meeting  clings  to  the  feet  of 
God.  We  will  not  have  the  staff;  we  will 
not  trust  in  the  servants,  but  only  in  the 
Master  himself;  He  can  and  will  raise  the 
dead."  In  this  conviction  we  unfalteringly 
concur.  The  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  is 
being  heard,  and  they  that  hear  it  live. 
In  His  majesty  Christ  is  saying,  "  I  am  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life  ;  he  that  believ- 
eth  in  ISIe,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live ;"  and  the  spiritual  resurrection 
we  are  persuaded  will  go  on  till  there  is 
marshaled  for  God  an  exceeding  great 
army  of  the  living. 


III. 

December  4. — ^We  are  drawing   to   the 
close  of  this  first  week  of  the  special  meet- 


ings in  this  city,  and  I  send  a  little  account 
of  what  I  have  seen  of  them. 

First  of  all,  we  have  to  praise  our  faith- 
ful God  for  the  abundant  answers  to  prayer 
already  experienced  in  the  gathering  to- 
gether and  quickening  of  so  many  of  His 
people  day  after  day  at  the  noon  prayer- 
meeting  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall.  All  to 
whom  I  have  spoken  testify  to  the  spiritual 
refreshment  and  power  they  have  received 
at  these  hallowed  seasons  of  intercourse 
with  God. 

One  feature  of  the  noon  meeting  here  is 
particularly  striking,  contrasted  with  what 
I  have  observed  elsewhere,  and  that  is, 
the  very  large  proportion  of  7}ien,  who,  in 
this  busy  city  (one  of  the  busiest,  I  sup- 
pose, in  the  world),  leave  their  business 
to  come  and  spend  an  hour  in  the  middle 
of  the  day  at  the  prayer-meeting. 

Another  marked  feature  has  been  the 
spirit  of  prayer  poured  out  on  those  who 
took  part  in  the  meetings.  Is  it  not  a 
token  for  good  when  God  is  putting  such 
deep,  earnest  longings  for  spiritual  blessing 
into  the  hearts  of  His  children,  when  the 
burden  of  every  heart  seems  the  same,  and 
one  yearning  desire  is  heard  in  every  pe- 
tition for  the  revival  of  God's  work  in  the 
hearts  of  His  own  people,  and  among  the 
unsaved  multitudes  of  this  great  city  }  I 
believe  God  is  about  to  do  a  mighty  work 
of  grace  in  Manchester.  Although  but  a 
few  meetings  have  been  held,  we  have 
already  had  abundant  proofs  of  the  Lord's 
presence  and  power  in  the  salvation  of 
souls. 

The  first  evening  meeting  was  held  on 
Monday,  at  the  Free  Trade  Hall,  which 
was  crowded  in  every  part ;  and  there  was 
an  overflow  meeting,  condu':ted  by  some 
of  the  ministers,  in  the  Oxford  Music 
Hall,  at  the  same  time.  The  meeting  in 
the  Free  Trade  Hall  was  a  most  solemn 
one ;  and  when,  at  the  close  of  his  ad- 
dress, Mr.  Moody  requested  those  who 
wished  to  become  Christians  that  night 
to  signify  their  desire  by  standing  up, 
quite  a  number  did  so,  and  afterwards 
came  to  the  inquiry-room,  where  Mr. 
Moody  spoke  with  them  alone. 

As  the  building  is  not  large  enough  to 
accommodate  all  who  wish  to  come  to  the 
meetings,  Mr.  Moody  decided  to  have  a 
meeting  for  women,  every  afternoon,  at 
three  o'clock,  and  to  preach  to  men  in  the 
evening.  This  plan  has  been  carried  out 
since  Tuesday,  with  very  blessed  results. 
The  women's  meetings  are  held  in  a  spa- 


MANCHESTER. 


99 


cious  chapel,  (Union  Chapel,  Oxford 
Street,)  which  accommodates  1,500  to 
2,000  persons ;  and  at  the  close  of  yester- 
day's meeting  a  large  number  came  into 
the  inquiry-room  as  seekers  for  salvation. 
This  afternoon,  again,  there  was  a  crowded 
women's  meeting  in  the  same  place,  and 
the  number  of  inquirers  was  remarkable. 
Thank  God,  many  left  professing  to  have 
found  peace  in  believing. 

The  evening  meetings  for  men  only  have 
been  most  interesting  and  encouraging. 
Every  night  there  are  numbers  seeking 
and  finding  salvation  in  the  after-meetings. 
One  case  which  came  under  my  own  notice 
was  so  interesting,  that  I  must  give  you 
particulars  of  it. 

A  young  man  came  into  the  noon 
prayer-meeting  on  Wednesday,  and  after- 
wards to  the  evening  meeting  in  the  Ox- 
ford Hall,  under  deep  concern  about  his 
soul's  salvation.  He  is  the  child  of  Chris- 
tian parents,  who,  after  praying  for  the 
conversion  of  their  children  for  years,  at 
last  passed  away  to  their  rest  without  see- 
ing the  desire  of  their  hearts  granted. 
One  of  the' sons  settled  in  Dublin  and  an- 
other in  Manchester.  During  Mr.  Moody's 
visit  to  Dublin,  the  brother  living  there 
was  induced  to  attend  the  meetings,  and 
was  led  to  trust  in  the  Saviour ;  and  on 
Tuesday  last  he  wrote  to  the  brother  in 
Manchester  telling  of  his  own  conversion, 
and  urging  him  to  attend  Mr.  Moody's 
meetings  here.  By  the  same  post,  the 
Dublin  brother's  Christian  wife,  who  was 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  wrote  to  the  same 
effect,  so  that  the  Manchester  brother  got 
these  two  letters  on  Wednesday,  and  was 
so  troubled  about  his  soul  in  consequence, 
that  he  at  once  got  a  newspaper  to  see 
where  and  when  the  meetings  were  held. 
He  attended  the  two  meetings  as  I  have 
said  ;  remained  for  the  after  meeting,  and 
that  very  Wednesday  night  professed  to 
find  Christ,  and  went  home  rejoicing  in 
the  Saviour. 

Mr.  Moody  remarked  at  one  of  the  noon 
meetings  that  he  had  not  seen  anywhere 
more  real  and  deep  conviction  of  sin  than 
in  some  of  those  who  had  come  in  to  the 
inquiry-room  at  the  close  of  the  men's 
meetings  the  last  few  nights.  All  this  is 
most  cheering,  and  leads  us  to  expect  still 
greater  things  for  Manchester.  One  who 
knows  the  city  well  tells  me  that  every- 
where men  are  being  stirred  up  to  inquiry 
about  the  great  question  of  the  soul's 
eternal  interests. 


Dec.  5. — The  meeting  in  the  Free  Trade 
Hall  last  (Friday)  night  was  the  best  I 
have  seen  here.  The  hall  was  crowded 
to  excess,  and  the  presence  and  power  of 
God  were  most  manifestly  visible.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  solemn  meetings  I 
ever  attended,  and  at  the  close  of  the  first 
meeting,  when  Mr.  Moody  announced  that 
an  inquiry-meeting  would  be  held  in  the 
Oxford  Hall,  a  large  number  went  to  that 
building,  and  the  Christians  present  had 
the  joy  of  pointing  many  anxious,  seeking 
souls  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 

The  following  circular  has  been  issued 
by  Mr.  Moody  : 

TO    THE    CLERGY     OF     MANCHESTER    AND 
SALFORD. 

Having  come  to  Manchester  with  my  friend, 
Mr.  Sankey,  for  the  month  of  December,  with 
the  one  object  of  preaching  Christ,  it  has  been  a 
matter  of  disappointment  that  not  more  clergy- 
men of  the  Church  of  England  have  attended 
our  meetings. 

As  God  has  granted  large  blessings  where 
unity  has  prevailed,  we  earnestly  trust  that  you 
will  join  in  seeking  a  blessing  for  Manchester. 

Manchester,  Dec.  4,  1874.  D.  L.  Moody. 

You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  we  have 
had  most  cheering  news  from  Dublin 
about  the  progress  of  the  work  there  since 
Mr.  Moody's  departure.  The  Lord  is  still 
working  mightily,  especially  amongst  the 
young  men,  whose  meeting  is  carried  on 
every  night,  in  the  Metropolitan  Hall,  with 
ever-deepening  interest  and  blessing.  One 
young  man  stood  up  recently  to  tell  how 
the  Lord  had  saved  him.  He  commenced 
his  testimony  with  the  words,  "  This  day 
week  I  did  not  believe  there  was  a  God." 
Mr.  Moody  had  spoken  to  him  while  he 
waited  for  a  friend  at  one  of  the  meetings, 
but  he  went  away  angry.  He  came  to  an- 
other meeting  wishing  to  speak  to  Mr, 
Moody,  who  asked  him  to  call  on  his  wife. 
He  subsequently  called  on  Mrs.  Moody, 
and  had  a  long  conversation  with  her,  but 
went  away  apparently  unchanged.  Now 
the  news  cornes  that  after  Mr.  Moody  left 
Dublin  he  was  brought  to  the  feet  of  Jesus 
at  one  of  the  men's  meetings,  and  after- 
wards stood  up,  as  I  have  said,  to  tell  to 
others  of  the  blessed  change  which  God  . 
had  wrought  in  him. 

To-day  Mr.  Moody  went  to  Liverpool 
to  meet  the  committee  who  are  making 
arrangements  for  his  visit  to  that  town. 
It  was  decided  to  erect  a  large  wooden 
structure,  capable  of  holding  8,000  people. 
A  piece  of  ground  has  been  obtained  for 
the  purpose   in   a  most  central  situation 


lOO 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


(Victoria-street),  and  as  the  building  can- 
not be  finished  this  month,  Mr.  Moody 
will  not  go  to  Liverpool  until  February, 
spending  January  in  Birmingham  and 
Sheftield. 


IV. 

Manchester,  I  rejoice  to  say,  is  now 
on  fire.  The  most  difficult  of  all  English 
cities,  perhaps,  to  be  set  on  fire  by  any- 
thing but  politics,  is  now  fairly  ablaze,  and 
the  flames  are  breaking  out  in  all  direc- 
tions. 

Yesterday  (Dec.  6)  the  Free  Trade  Hall, 
within  whose  walls  scenes  of  no  common 
interest  and  excitement  have  often  been 
witnessed,  presented  a  spectacle  such  as 
those  who  beheld  it  will  not  easily  forget. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  McKerrow,  my  venerable 
predecessor  in  the  ministry,  assured  me 
that  he  had  seen  no  such  sight,  even  in  the 
most  excited  political  times,  during  the 
forty-seven  years  of  his  life  in  Manchester, 
as  that  which  he  saw  there  on  Sunday 
afternoon. 

The  building  was  densely  crowded. 
Not  an  inch  of  standing-room  was  unoc- 
cupied. Long  before  the  appointed  hour, 
hundreds  found  it  impossible  to  gain  ad- 
mission. And  Mr.  Moody— -in  what  terms 
shall  I  describe  his  address.^  Theological 
critics  might  have  said  there  was  nothing 
in  it ;  but  only  eternity  will  reveal  how 
much  there  came  out  of  it.  I  should  not 
be  surprised  if  hundreds  of  conversions 
should  result  from  that  single  mighty  ap- 
peal. Taking  for  his  text  the  first  ques- 
tion addressed  to  them,  "  Where  art  thou.?" 
he  brought  it  home  to  the  bosom  of  every 
hearer  with  a  power  and  pathos  that  were 
simply  irresistible.  Having  referred  _  to 
the  case  of  a  young  man  who  had  cried 
out  in  the  inquiry-room  on  Friday  night, 
"Oh,  mother,  I  am  coming!"  the  young 
man  himself  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  ex- 
claimed in  tones  of  impassioned  earnest- 
ness, "  That  was  me  !"  The  effect  was 
electrical.  Not  an  eye  but  was  suffused 
with  tears.  The  whole  vast  assembly  was 
impressed  with  a  profound  sense  of  the 
presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  meeting  for  young  men  in  the  even- 
ing was  equally  wonderful,  no  fewer  than 
seventy-one  having  remained  behind  as 
anxious  inquirers,  not  a  few  of  whom  went 
home  rejoicing  in  the  peace  of  God  that 
passeth  understanding. 

There  is  only  one  sentiment,  I  feel  con- 


vinced, in  the  hearts  of  all  God's  children 
in  this  vast  community  in  regard  to  this 
great  work,  and  that  is,  a  sentiment  of 
devout  thankfulness^  to  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther that  He  has  sent  among  us  two  such 
men,  full  of  faith  and  power,  and  yet 
eminent  for  humility  and  lowliness  of 
mind.  "  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things 
for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad." 

Dec.  II. — The  meetings  of  that  memo- 
rable Lord's  day  gave  a  tone  of  solemnity 
and  a  character  of  power  to  all  the  meet- 
ings of  the  week.  The  tide  rose  steadily, 
day  by  day,  until  it  became  full,  overflow- 
ing the  bank  in  all  directions — a  very 
sp>ring-tide  of  blessing ;  and  only  eternity 
will  reveal  how  many  immortals  are  now 
launching  out  upon  its  waters  in  the  bark 
of  a  simple  trust  in  the  Son  of  God.  Oh, 
that  in  the  end  an  "  entrance  may  be  min- 
istered unto  them  abundantly  into  the 
everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour, Jesus  Christ !"  May  every  soul  whose 
hope  of  salvation  is  now  being  fixed  upon 
Jesus,  when  the  storms  of  temptation  and 
sin  are  all  past,  be  found  "  safe  within  the 
veil!" 

The  evenings  of  Monday  and  Tuesday 
in  the  Free  Trade  Hall,  will  long  be 
remembered  by  the  thousands  who  were 
present.  Mr.  Moody  delivered  his  famous 
discourses  on  Heaven.  Much  as  we  have 
read  and  heard  of  the  fervor  and  unction 
that  characterize  them,  we  were  not  pre- 
pared to  find  these  apostolic  qualities  in  so 
superlative  a  degree  as  that  which  marked 
them  on  this  occasion.  The  second  was 
especially  interesting  and  delightful,  treat- 
ing as  it  did  of  the  society  and  the 
treasure  of  heaven ;  and  the  contrast 
drawn  by  the  preacher  between  these  and 
the  treasures  and  society  of  this  world, 
seemed  to  strike  the  minds  of  the  vast 
audience  with  all  the  force  of  a  revelation ; 
constraining  many  a  heart,  doubtless,  to 
resolve  to  seek  henceforward  "  the  things 
that  are  above."  The  appeal  with  which 
it  closed,  for  power  and  pathos,  exceeded, 
in  our  judgment,  anything  that  he  himself 
has  uttered. 

And  then  the  discourse  on  Hell,  on  the 
evening  of  Wednesday,  coming  as  it  did 
immediately  after  the  addresses  on  Heav- 
en, was  certainly  one  of  the  most  solemn 
and  impressive  utterances  that  have  been 
heard  within  those  walls.  Every  eye  was 
riveted  on  the  speaker.  The  projected 
shadow  of  the  great  white  throne  seemed 
to  fall  and  rest  upon  every  countenance. 


MANCHESTER. 


Even  the  fervent  exclamations  in  which 
some  of  our  friends  indulge  at  religious 
meetings,  and  which  had  been  just  a  little 
too  fervent  the  night  previous,  were  hush- 
ed, and  scarcely  a  sound  broke  the  awful 
stillness  with  which,  for  nearly  an  hour, 
the  people  listened  to  the  oft-repeated 
charge,  like  so  many  claps  of  thunder, 
"  Son,  remember !"  In  bygone  revivals  such 
heart- smiting,  conscience  -  stirring,  soul- 
firing  words  as  those  which  poured  from 
the  preacher's  lips,  would  have  caused  hun- 
dreds to  start  to  their  feet,  and  cry  out 
v/ith  frenzy,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner !  "  But  in  harmony  with  the  pre- 
vailing character  of  this  awakening,  the 
conviction  of  sin  produced  on  that  occa- 
sion seemed  to  be  too  deep  and  too  sacred 
to  find  expression  in  mere  excited  exclam- 
ations or  physical  prostrations,  and  were 
known  only  to  Him  who  seeth  in  secret ! 
God  was  in  the  midst  of  us  of  a  truth. 
The  Holy  Spirit  came,  as  of  old,  with  the 
force  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  Avind,  and 
filled  all  the  place  where  we  were  sitting. 
The  powers  of  the  world  to  come  were 
brought  nigh  to  every  conscience  in  a 
manner  never  to  be  forgotten-  We  seemed 
to  be  looking  across  the  gulf  that  divides 
time  from  eternity,  and  beholding  the  tor- 
ments of  the  self-destroyed  victims  of  a 
broken  law  and  a  rejected  gospel.  No 
wonder  that  the  inquiry-room  was  full  that 
night  of  inquirers  of  the  most  anxious 
description,  and  that  the  , after-meeting, 
over  which  we  presided,  was  larger  and 
more  earnest  than  any  that  has  yet  taken 
place.  Doubtless  the  heavens  blossomed 
into  song  overhead,  and  the  angels  of  God 
rejoiced  over  many  souls  turning  from  sin 
and  Satan  unto  the  living  God  ! 

On  Thursday  Mr.  Moody  was,  for  the  first 
time,  absent,  having  gone  to  London  to  visit 
his  friends.  The  noon  prayer-meeting  was 
uncommonly  well  attended,  considering 
the  murky  atmosphere  which  wrapped  our 
city,  but  we  missed  the  ringing  voice  and 
hearty  appeals  of  our  friend.  In  the  even- 
ing a  very  large  audience  assembled  in  the 
Oxford  Hall,  to  hear  addresses  from  the 
Rev.  W.  H.  Aitken,  M.A.,  and  the  Rev. 
Alex.  McAuley,  of  Liverpool,  both  of 
whom  spoke  in  such  a  manner  as  to  hold 
their  hearers  spell-bound  for  upwards  of 
an  hour.  On  Friday,  Mr.  Moody  return- 
ed, and  in  the  afternoon  gave  the  second 
of  his  deeply-interesting  and  most  instruct- 
ive Bible-readings,  which  have  been  so 
highly  appreciated  wherever  he  has  been. 


The  subject  was,  "  Confessing  Christ." 
Passage  after  passage  of  Scripture  was 
quoted  and  illustrated,  all  bearing  directly 
upon  this  primordial  duty,  until  one  felt 
that  by  no  possibility  could  a  single  unde- 
cided hearer  present  justify,  on  Scriptural 
grounds  at  least,  his  remaining  in  an  un- 
decided state  foi  another  hour  longer. 
The  preacher's  running  commentary  on  the 
gospel  narrative  of  the  healing  of  the  man 
blind  from  his  birth  was  peculiarly  inter- 
esting, as  well  as  singularly  felicitous,  and 
proved  a  fine  illustration  of  the  duty  he 
was  inculcating.  We  trust  many  in  that 
hall  were  prompted  to  imitate  the  example 
of  that  subject  of  the  gracious  power  of 
Jesus,  by  boldly  testifying,  as  he  did,  to 
the  reality  of  the  change  which  has  taken 
place  in  their  hearts,  and  saying,  "  One 
thing  I  know,  that  whereas  I  was  blind, 
now  I  see." 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  despite 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  the  Free 
Trade   Hall  was  again  crowded  with    an 
audience  composed  of  persons  on  whose 
faces  one  could  easily  read  their  prepared- 
ness to  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord.     Tak- 
ing for  his  subject  the  parable  of  the  mar- 
riage feast,  the  preacher   dealt  v/ith   the 
excuses  commonly  urged  by  those  who,  in 
reality,  "  will  not  come  to  Christ  that  they 
may  have  life."     One  excuse  after  another 
was  considered,  and   shown  to  be  a  refuge 
of  lies,  to  be  swept  away  hereafter,  if  not 
here,   by   the   storm   of   God's   righteous 
judgments.     The  word  of  the  Lord  in  the 
hand  of  the  evangelist  was  as  a  two-edged 
sword,  piercing  to  the  dividing  asunder  of 
soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  mar- 
row, and  proving  adiscernerof  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  the  heart.     A  more  search- 
ing analysis  of  the  state  of  a  human  soul 
in  vain  seeking  to  excuse  itself  from  ac- 
cepting the  invitation  of  the  King  of  heav- 
en, and  coming  to  the  gospel  feast,  it  has 
never   been   our   fortune   to   hear.      The 
thought  and  the  prayer  were  uppermost  in 
our  mind,  "  Every  refuge  of  man's  inven- 
tion  has   been  exposed  and  demolished. 
Oh,  that  sinners  may  now  flee  for  refuge 
to  the  hope  set   before  them!"     God  be 
thanked,  many  did  flee  to  that  hope  on 
Friday   night.      In   the   inquiry-room  we 
conversed  with   several  who   owned    that 
the  mask  of  hypocrisy  had  been  torn  from 
their  faces,  that  they   saw  themselves   in 
the  light  of  God's  holy  law,  and  that  their 
on'y  hope  was  in  Jesus  Christ.     To  God 
alone  be  all  the  praise  ! 


T02 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Y. 

On  Saturday  evening  the  Oxford  Hall 
presented  a  spectacle  which  those  who 
witnessed  it  will  not  soon  forget.  In  re- 
sponse to  Mr.  Moody's  invitation,  some 
3,000  persons,  professedly  Christians,  and 
chiefly  young  men,  assembled  to  hear  him 
counsel  them  regarding  Christian  work. 
The  heartiness  with  which  they  ever  and 
anon  broke  forth  into  song  before  he  made 
his  appearance,  and  the  manliness  with 
which  they  sang,  especially  "  Dare  to  be  a 
Daniel,"  indicated  that  they  were  ready  to 
receive  with  gladness  the  word  of  com- 
mand from  the  lips  of  the  great  Organizer. 
He  spoke  briefly  but  effectively.  He  told 
of  the  work  done  by  the  young  converts 
elsewhere,  especially  in  Glasgow,  in  con- 
nection with  the  evangelization  of  the 
masses.  He  made  particular  reference  to 
the  noble  arn>y  of  volunteers  that  rose  to 
their  feet  in  that  city  when  the  appeal  was 
made  to  them,  "  Who  will  work  for  Jesus  ?" 
And  then,  when  he  made  the  same  appeal 
to  themselves,  calling  upon  all  who  were 
ready  to  work  for  the  Master  to  stand  up, 
almost  the  entire  body  of  young  men — a 
grand  and  inspiring  sight — sprang  to  their 
feet.  One  could  not  help  exclaiming, 
"  God  be  thanked  !  there's  hope  for  our 
city !  Manchester,  with  such  a  host,  may 
yet  be  won  for  Christ!"  By  a  special  ar- 
raVigement,  as  it  seemed,  of  Providence, 
Mr.  Reginald  Radclifife  was  present,  and 
immediately  put  before  them  a  definite 
plan  for  making  a  great  gospel  attack,  so 
to  speak,  upon  the  city.  He  suggested 
that  an  ordinance  map  of  Manchester 
should  be  cut  into  small  squares,  each 
representing  a  district,  and  that  two  or 
three  young  persons  should  undertake  to 
carry  the  gospel,  in  the  shape  of  a  tract  or 
otherwise,  to  every  house,  great  and  small, 
within  that  district,  so  that  no  single  dwell- 
ing should  be  omitted.  The  plan  appear- 
ed to  approve  itself  to  the  judgment  of 
the  meeting,  all  the  more  so  that  he  told 
us  how  successfully  he  had  carried  out  a 
similar  one  in  Edinburgh  and  Liverpool 
in  years  gone  by.  The  Lord  grant  it 
abundant  success  ! 

The  workers'  meeting,  yesterday  (13th), 
was  the  largest  since  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  came  to  Manchester.  The  address 
was  most  powerful.  A  forcible  appeal  was 
made  to  Sabbath-school  teachers  in  this 
city ;  but  one  conviction  seemed  to  exist 


in  the  minds  of  the  vast  audience  of  5,000, 
"  Let  us  arise  and  work." 

Had  Mr.  Moody  come  to  deliver  only 
this  address,  his  mission  had  not  been  in 
vain.  In  the  afternoon,  from  15,000  to 
17,000  struggled  for  admission.  Various 
meetings  had  to  be  held  in  the  Free  Trade 
Hall,  Oxford  Hall,  and  Cavendish  Chapel ; 
all  crowded  as  they  never  have  been  before. 
As  many  more  halls  of  the  same  size  could 
have  been  filled.  From  twenty  to  thirty 
meetings  were  held  in  the  streets  of  the 
neighborhood,  where  addresses  were  de- 
livered by  ministers  and  laymen.  At  every 
meeting  the  Lord  was  present  to  heal.  Anx- 
ious inquirers  were  very  numerous.  Great 
numbers  professed  to  find  the  Saviour. 

The  meeting  for  young  men  in  Oxford 
Hall,  at  eight,  was  also  crowded  to  excess, 
hundreds  being  unable  to  obtain  admis- 
sion. _  Mr.  Moody  spoke  as  if  tongues  of 
fire  liovered  over  his  head. 


VI. 

The  spiritual  movement  in  this  city  is 
now  a  fact — a  solemn  but  joyful  fact, 
which  must  be  observed  even  by  those  who 
take  their  stand  outside  as  mere  spectators, 
with  marvel ;  and,  indeed,  skeptics  marvel. 

"  It  is  a  most  strange  phenomenon," 
said  one  to  me,  who  is  a  clever  journalist, 
"  to  see  such  multitudes  brought  together 
by  mere  curiosity,  and  this  curiosity  in- 
creasing day  by  day,  when  there  is  noth- 
ing to  be  seen  or  to  be  heard  that  is  fitted 
to  excite  curiosity."  So  it  is.  A  striking 
feature  of  these  meetings  is  the  absence 
of  all  excitement.  The  thousands  who 
usually  flock  to  our  hall,  when  once  seated, 
are  impressively  still ;  it  is  a  grand,  encour- 
aging sight  to  watch  this  sea  of  human  faces 
eagerly  waiting  for  the  word  of  life.  Mr. 
Moody  puts  no  effort  forward  to  attract ; 
he  stands  before  his  audience  quiet;  he 
never  introduces  himself;  you  see  at  once 
he  wants  you  to  listen  to  his  message. 
His  words  are  most  simple  and  earnest ; 
there  is  nothing  elaborate,  or  strange,  or 
new,  not  even  his  illustrations.  But  as  his 
words  fall  from  his  lips,  hearts  are  moved. 
If  you  watch  the  audience  you  can  see 
faces  changing  expression  ;  you  can  read 
there  shame,  contrition,  confession,  hope 
faith,  peace — as  the  case  may  be.  The 
truth  comes  home  !  There  is  power  !  No 
man  could  do  it !  It  is  God's  power !  It 
is  the  Lord's  doing. 

Christians  have  been  drawn  together  as 


MANCHESTER. 


103 


we  have  not  known  here  before;  and 
though  there  remains  yet  much  that  is  to 
be  desired,  still  we  are  encouraged  and 
hope  for  greater  things ;  we  know  we  can- 
not make  unity  by  arrangements  and  ef- 
forts ;  the  Lord's  laborers  have  learned  to 
realize  more  than  ever  that  the  work  is 
God's,  not  ours ;  that  He  works  mightily 
with  His  power,  if  we  do  not  hinder  and 
are  willing,  as  Mr.  Moody  puts  it,  to  be 
simple  channels,  just  as  those  dusty,  rusty, 
crooked-looking  *  gas-pipes.  And  many 
who  have  been  hitherto  too  ignorant  or  in- 
different, or  too  cowardly  to  work,  have 
now  come  forward  and  said,  "  Here  am  I, 
send  me." 

A  dear  friend,  from  Liverpool,  who  is  al- 
most daily  with  us,  has  used  the  opportu- 
nity and  organized  a  scheme  by  which 
every  house  in  this  city  shall  be  visited.  I 
will  only  add  that  hundreds  of  our  visitors 
are  already  busy  visiting  and  speaking  and 
singing  in  the  sick-chambers  of  isolated 
sufferers,  in  the  desolate  homes  of  the  god- 
less, of  Him  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost.  The  reports  of  the 
visitors  are  most  cheering. 

For  all  this  let  us  praise  the  Lord  ! 


VII. 

The  time  is  drawing  unpleasantly  near 
for  the  departure  of  our  brethren,  whom 
the  better  we  know,  the  more  abundantly 
we  esteem  and  love.  The  unassuming 
character  of  the  men,  the  simplicity  of 
their  aim,  their  unwearied  earnestness  and 
devotion  to  Christ,  and  the  revival  of  spir- 
itual life  they  have  been  the  means  of 
bringing  us,  have  endeared  them  to  many 
Christian  hearts.  They  have  stayed  with 
us  to  our  profit  and  joy,  and  they  will  not 
leave  us  without  the  accompaniment  of  our 
fervent  prayers. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  in  the  Free 
Trade  Hall  has  steadily  kept  up  its  num- 
bers. The  large  proportion  of  men  who 
find  time  in  this  commercial  centre  to  con- 
secrate an  hour  to  prayer  at  mid  day,  is  a 
striking  feature  of  the  meeting.  The  first 
twenty  minutes  are  generally  spent  in  read- 
ing the  requests  for  prayer,  and  presenting 
them  in  silent  and  audible  supplication  to 
God ;  a  large  proportion  of  these  requests 
bear  upon  intemperance.  This  noon  gath- 
ering affords  an  opportunity  for  Christian 
workers  from  all  parts  to  give  tidings  of  the 
progress  of  the  work  of  God.  The  other 
day,  Mr.  Moody  read  a  telegram  from  the 


venerable  Mr.  Somerville,  who  has  gone  on 
an  evangelistic  mission  to  Calcutta,  report- 
ing the  conversion  of  thirty-one  persons  at 
a  special  service  held  by  him  in  the  theatre 
there  on  the  previous  evening.  Last  Mon- 
day, the  Rev.  G.  Stuart,  of  Glasgow,  told 
how  solidly  the  work  is  continuing  in  that 
town,  and  how  it  is  in  contemplation  to 
purchase  Ewing  Place  Church  for  ^20,000, 
for  evangelistic  purposes,  growing  out  of 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  labors.  He 
also  related  several  remarkable  instances  of 
answers  to  the  prayers  offered  at  the  Glas- 
gow noon  prayer-meeting.  On  Tuesday, 
the  Rev.  A.  McLaren  followed  up  Mr. 
Moody's  address  by  a  brief  and  telling 
speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he  strongly 
urged  prayer  for  the  consolidation  of  the 
growing  union  now  observable  among  the 
churches  of  Manchester. 

The  meetings  for  Christian  workers  in 
the  Free  Trade  Hall  on  Sunday  mornings 
at  eight  o'clock  have  imparted  a  great  stim 
ulus  to  Christian  labor.  Never  shall  we 
forget  Mr.  Moody's  address  on  "  Daniel" 
last  Sunday  morning.  The  hall  was 
crowded  to  excess;  between  5,000  and 
6,000  persons  brought  together  at  that 
early  hour,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  testifies 
to  the  power  with  which  the  awakening  has 
laid  hold  of  the  city.  The  character  of 
Daniel  was  exhibited  with  graphic  skill; 
the  varied  scenes  of  the  first  six  chapters 
of  the  book  were  vividly  portrayed  ;  every 
actor  in  the  story  became  instinct  with  life 
and  humor,  and  the  lessons  were  rapidly 
and  sharply  drawn  in  a  way  not  likely  to 
be  forgotten.  The  scene  of  Belshazzar's 
feast  was  powerfully  sketched;  and  while 
Daniel  read  out  the  mysterious  writing  on 
the  wall — read  it  easily,  for  it  was  "  his 
Father's  handwriting  " — the  breathless  si- 
lence which  fell  upon  the  vast  throng  in 
the  hall  told  with  what  reality  the  scene 
was  presented  before  them.  The  whole 
story  involved  a  running  satire  upon  the 
yielding  temper  of  the  present  day;  and 
the  address  constituted  a  powerful  appeal 
to  young  men,  which  we  have  never  known 
surpassed.  At  the  close  Mr.  Sankey  sang 
"  Standing  by  a  purpose  true,"  and  the 
audience  joined  with  unmistakable  enthu- 
siasm in  the  chorus,  "  Dare  to  be  a  Daniel." 

The  meetings  for  parents  and  children, 
held  every  Saturday  at  noon,  in  the  Free 
Trade  Hall,  are  gatherings  of  great  attract- 
iveness. An  interesting  episode  occurred 
last  Saturday  when,  at  Mr.  Moody's  sug- 
gestion,  a  collection  was    made — to    be 


I04 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


repeated  next  Saturday — for  the  purpose 
of  giving  a  New  Year's  present  to  every 
orphan  child  in  Manchester  and  Sal- 
ford. 

The  gospel  meetings  on  Sunday  after- 
noons and  week  evenings  are  still  as 
thronged  as  ever.  The  numbers  at  the 
inquiry -meetings  increase;  many  have 
been  led  to  the  Saviour.  So  permeated 
with  Bible  truth  is  the  teaching  given  in 
Mr.  Moody's  addresses,  that  inquirers  per- 
ceive the  way  of  salvation  with  unusual 
quickness ;  Christ  is  presented  to  them, 
and  they  simply  and  immediately  close 
"with  Him.  Last  Sunday  afternoon,  Mr. 
Moody  addressed  the  great  assembly  in 
the  Free  Trade  Hall,  from  the  seven 
following  "Beholds":  "Behold,  I  was 
shapen  in  iniquity."  "  Behold,  I  bring 
you  good  tidings  of  great  joy."  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God."  "  Behold,  now  is  the 
accepted  time."  "  Behold,  now  is  the  day 
of  salvation."  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the 
door  and  knock."  "  Behold,  he  prayeth." 
It  was  an  address  of  thrilling  solemnity. 
The  crowded  meeting  which  at  the  time 
filled  the  Oxford  Hall,  was  addressed  by 
the  Rev.  J.  Rawlinson  and  W.  Hubbard. 
It  may  interest  readers  to  learn  that  a 
band  of  workers  has  been  organized  to 
visit  every  house  in  Manchester  and  Sal- 
ford,  with  a  card,  bearing  on  one  side  the 
hymn,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by," 
and  on  the  other,  the  following 

ADDRESS   BY   MR.  MOODY. 

"Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock  :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and 
sup  with  him,  and  he  with  Me"  (Rev.  iii. 
20).  A  woman  in  Glasgow  got  into  diffi- 
culties. Her  rent  was  due,  but  she  had  no 
money  for  the  landlord,  and  she  knew  very 
well  that  he  would  turn  her  out  if  she  did 
not  satisfy  his  claim.  In  despair,  she 
knew  not  what  to  do.  A  Christian  man 
heard  of  her  distress,  and  came  to  her 
door  with  money  to  help  her.  He  knocked, 
but  although  he  thought  he  could  hear 
some  one  inside,  yet  the  door  was  not 
opened.  He  knocked  again,  but  still 
there  was  no  response.  The  third  time 
he  knocked,  but  that  door  still  remained 
locked  and  iDarred  against  him  ! 

"  Some  time  after  he  met  this  woman  in 
the  streets,  and  told  her  how  he  had  gone 
to  her  house  to  pay  her  rent,  but  could 
not  get   in.      '  Oh,    sir  ! '    she  exclaimed, 


*  was  that  you  .?  Why,  I  thought  it  was 
the  landlord,  and  I  was  afraid  to  open  the 
door !  ' 

"  Dear  friends  !  Christ  is  knocking  al 
the  door  of  your  heart.  He  has  knocked 
many  times  already,  and  now  He  knocks 
again  by  this  message.  He  is  your  bes* 
Friend,  although,  like  that  woman,  per- 
haps, you  think  He  comes  with  the  stern 
voice  of  justice  to  demand  from  you 
the  payment  of  your  great  sin -debt. 
If  so,  you  are  sadly  mistaken.  He 
comes  not  to  demand,  but  to  give  !  *  The 
gift  of  God  is  eternal  life.'  He  knows 
you  can  never  pay  the  great  debt  you  owe 
to  God.  He  knows  that,  if  that  debt  is 
not  paid  for  you,  you  are  forever  lost ! 
He  loves  you,  though  He  hates  your  sins  ; 
and,  in  order  that  you  might  be  saved.  He 
laid  down  His  life  a  sacrifice  for  the  guilty. 
And,  now.  He  comes  !  bringing  the  gift 
of  salvation  to  the  door  of  your  hearts. 
Will  yoti  receive  the  gift  ? 

"D.  L.  Moody." 

Encouraging  signs  of  union  amongst  the 
different  religious  bodies  are  coming  to  the 
surface.  Various  attempts  have  been  made 
during  the  year  by  the  committee  which 
conducted  the  preparations  for  the  visit 
of  our  brethren  to  secure  the  co-operation 
of  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England. 
The  invitation,  which  emanated  from  the 
meeting  of  ministers  of  the  Established 
and  Free  Churches  on  Friday  afternoon, 
Dec.  18,  calling  a  meeting  of  all  the  min- 
isters of  all  bodies  in  Manchester  and  Sal- 
ford  for  conference  on  Tuesday,  Dec.  22, 
at  ten  a.m.,  was  well  responded  to  ;  about 
150  clergymen  and  ministers  assembled  in 
the  Town  Hall,  and  after  free  interchange 
of  opinion  and  frank  statement  of  diffi- 
culties, resolved  on  continuing  the  noon 
prayer-meeting  after  the  departure  of 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey.  The  pre- 
viously existing  commitjpe  was  requested 
to  enlarge  itself,  so  as  to  embrace  all 
the  ministers  and  clergymen  of  Man- 
chester and  Salford.  These,  at  Mr. 
Moody's  suggestion,  will  meet  monthly ; 
and  a  sub-committee  representing  each 
denomination,  will  carry  out  the  determi- 
nations of  the  larger  monthly  assembly. 
It  has  also  been  resolved  to  purchase  the 
museum  in  Peter  Street  for  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  for  ;^3o,ooo, 
which  sum  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  raised  with- 
out great  difficulty.  The  building  will 
then  become  the  home  of  the  noon  prayer- 
meeting,   and   the  centre   of    the   united 


MANCHESTER. 


105 


Christian  effort,  which  now  appears  to  be 
fairly  inaugurated  in  Manchester. 

December  27. — The  collections  above 
alluded  to  for  presenting  a  New  Year's 
gift  to  the  orphan  children  of  Manchester 
and  Salford  have  amounted  to  ^£146. 
This  morning,  notwithstanding  the  frost 
and  fog,  the  Free  Trade  Hall  was  again 
crowded  at  eight  o'clock.  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  from  Dan.  xii.  3,  urgently  enforcing 
personal  effort  as  the  great  means  of  "  turn- 
ing many  to  righteousness."  This  after- 
noon I  had  to  leave  the  crowded  meeting 
in  the  Free  Trade  Hall  to  attend  the 
overflow  meeting  in  the  Oxford  Hall. 


VIII. 

A  FEW  yards  from  the  Free  Trade  Hall, 
on  the  same  side  of  the  street,  stands  a 
dingy-looking  old  public  building.  It  was 
formerly  used  as  a  natural  history  museum, 
but  since  the  erection  of  the  magnificent 
Owen's  College,  and  tjie  consequent  trans- 
ference of  its  contents,  the  old  museum 
has  been  unused.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  have  long  been  look- 
ing for  some  suitable  building  as  a  centre 
for  their  operations  in  this  important  city, 
with  its  70,000  young  men  ;  and  now  the 
necessity  is  felt  for  a  place  to  carry  on  the 
daily  prayer-meeting,  and  Other  united 
evangelistic  efforts,  after  Messrs. Moody  and 
Sankey  have  left ;  so  it  has  been  decided 
to  purchase  the  old  museum  building,  and 
use  it  for  these  purposes.  It  was  secured 
accordingly  on  Monday  last ;  and,  in  a 
couple  of  days,  part  of  the  building,  giving 
accommodation  to  about  500  persons,  was 
seated,  lighted  with  gas,  and  heated;  so 
Jliat,  on  Wednesday  night,  Mr.  Moody 
used  it  as  an  inquiry-room,  after  the 
meeting  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall,  and  we 
had  the  joy  of  seeing  it  full  of  anxious 
souls.  This  was  a  blessed  consecration 
of  the  building  for  a  higher  and  nobler 
object  than  ever  it  had  been  used  for  be- 
fore. 

This  (Saturday)  evening  there  was  a 
thanksgiving  meeting  in  the  Oxford  Hall, 
at  which  Mr,  Moody  presided,  and,  in  his 
opening  address,  expressed  his  thankful- 
ness to  God  for  the  happy  spirit  of  unity 
and  love  which  now  prevails  among  the 
different  sections  of  the  Church  of  God  in 
this  city.  The  walls  of  separation  have 
been  over-stepped,  party  spirit  laid  aside, 


and  all  are  uniting  together  to  exalt  Christ, 
and  bring  sinners  to  Him. 

After  his  address,  Mr.  Moody  invited 
any  persons  in  the  hall  who  had  cause  to 
thank  God,  to  stand  up  and  express  their 
gratitude.  It  was  most  touching  to  hear 
one  after  another  stand  up  to  declare  what 
great  things  God  had  done,  either  for 
themselves  or  for  loved  relatives  and 
friends,  during  the  last  three  weeks.  Min- 
isters of  the  gospel  tell  of  new  life  and 
blessing  in  their  work.  Then  a  father 
tells,  in  tones  tremulous  with  emotion, 
of  dear  children  brought  to  Christ  and  of 
the  "  happiest  Christmas "  ever  spent  in 
his  house.  Then  a  prodigal  son  tells  of 
his  new-found  joy  in  the  Saviour's  love. 
When  he  sits  down  an  aged  man  rises 
with  streaming  eyes — it  is  the  father  of 
the  last  speaker.  What  cause  of  thankful- 
ness he  has  as  he  tells  of  the  letter  which 
brought  him  the  news  of  his  son's  conver- 
sion to  God !  And  so  the  time  swiftly 
passed  away,  and  at  the  close  many  were 
found  anxiously  inquiring  the  way  of  life, 
and  desiring  to  share  in  the  joy  they  heard 
others  speak  of. 

Nothwithstanding  all  the  excitement 
and  bustle  of  "  Christmas  week,"  the 
meetings  have  exceeded  the  expectations 
of  most  of  us,  both  in  the  numbers  attend- 
ing and  in  the  blessing  vouchsafed. 

On  last  Sunday  the  crowds  at  the  Free 
Trade  and  Oxford  Halls,  as  well  as  those 
unable  to  gain  admission  to  either,  were 
quite  as  great  as  on  the  Sunday  previous. 

On  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday 
there  have  been  three  meetings  daily  (at 
12  noon,  3  afternoon,  and  7:30  evening)  in 
the  Free  Trade  Hall,  as  well  as  the  men's 
meetings,  conducted  by  Mr.  Drummond, 
every  night  in  the  Oxford  Hall.  Every 
night  scores  of  anxious  inquirers  have  re- 
mained to  be  spoken  with  personally,  and 
very  many  have  gone  home  from  each 
meeting  professing  to  have  found  peace 
and  rest  of  soul  by  believing  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  The  ministers  and  other 
Christian  workers  who  have  been  engaged 
at  these  after-meetings  in  pointing  seek- 
ing sinners  to  the  Saviour,  all  testify  that 
they  have  never  seen  such  a  wonderful 
work  of  grace  in  this  city. 

This  work  is  not  only  seen  in  the  bring- 
ing large  numbers  of  the  unconverted  into 
the  fold  of  Christ,  but  also  in  the  revival 
and  refreshing  of  the  children  of  God, 
and  the  uniting  together  different  sections 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  the  common 


io6 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Dbject  of  seeking  the  salvation  of  perish- 
ing souls.  Large  numbers  of  the  clergy 
of  the  Church  of  England,  who  did  not 
see  their  way  to  join  this  movement  at  the 
outset,  are  now  entering  most  heartily  into 
the  work  along  with  their  brethren  of 
other  communions.  Several  meetings  of 
the  clergy  and  ministers  of  all  denomina- 
tions have  been  held  with  the  object  of 
promoting  this  Christian  union  and  carry- 
ing on  the  blessed  work  after  Mr.  Moody 
and  Mr.  Sankey  have  left. 

The  scheme  for  the  visitation  of  every 
house  in  Manchester,  is  working  well,  and 
with  the  happiest  results.  The  following 
is  the  plan  adopted  :  A  Christian  architect, 
who  has  entered  most  heartily  into  this 
service,  has  cut  up  the  large  scale  Ordi- 
nance Map  of  Manchester  into  about  fifty 
districts,  each  of  which  is  under  the  charge 
of  a  superintendent,  who  is  supplied  with 
a  sufficient  number  of  visitors  to  reach 
every  house  within  the  limits  of  his  dis- 
trict. A  leaflet,  containing  the  hymn, 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by,"  and  a 
short  address  .by  Mr.  Moody  is  left  at 
each  house  ;  but  it  is  understood  by  the 
visitors  that  this  paper  is  only  to  be  used 
as  an  introduction,  for  the  purpose  of  gain- 
ing admission  to  the  houses,  so  as  to  have 
personal  conversation  about  eternal  things 
with  each  individual,  as  far  as  possible. 
Some  of  the  visitors  have  already  given  in 
most  cheering  reports  of  the  marvelous 
way  in  which  the  hearts  of  the  people 
seemed  open  to  receive  their  visits,  show- 
ing that  the  Lord  is  in  this  movement, 
and  is  preparing  many  hearts  for  the  re- 
ception of  His  own  blessed  message  of  sal- 
vation- 

The  committee  at  Sheffield  have  made 
arrangements  to  do  the  same  work  there 
before  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  come, 
and  have  got  30,000  of  the  same  leaflet 
for  that  purpose.  It  will  probably  be 
taken  up  by  Birmingham  and  Liverpool 
also,  and  why  should  it  not  be  done  in 
London  itself.?  It  seems  a  bold  thought, 
but  if  a  thousand  Christian  men  and 
women  can  be  found  fo  visit  the  half-mil- 
lion inhabitants  of  Manchester,  surely 
London  could  furnish  eight  thousand 
earnest  laborers  for  the  same  glorious  ser- 
vice. 

Mr.  Moody  left  for  London  on  Wednes- 
day night,  and  returns  (d.  v.)  on  Saturday. 
He  remains  here  until  Wednesday  next, 
which  will  be  his  last  day  in  Manchester 
for  the  present,  but  he  will  probably  re- 


turn again  for  a  day  or  two  next  month. 
The  Sheffield  committee  have  secured  the 
Albert  Hall  for  the  meetings  there,  and  it 
is  proposed  to  commence  with  a  "  watch 
night"  meeting,  beginning  about  half-past 
ten  o'clock  on  the  last  night  of  the  year. 

Dec.  26. — There  was  an  immense  con- 
course at  the  children's  meeting  in  the 
Free  Trade  Hall  to-day.  Mr.  Sankey  pre- 
sided, and  Mr.  G.  Beith,  Rev.  Mr.  Ker- 
nock,  etc.,  took  part.  A  collection  was 
made  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  a  New 
Year's  gift  to  every  orphan  in  Manchester. 
The  total  amount  collected  was  ^146. 

The  subject  of  conference,  held  in  the 
Town  Hall  the  same  afternoon  was,  "  The 
inquiry-meeting,  and  how  to  deal  with  the 
anxious."  Mr.  Moody  opened  the  discus- 
sion, and  was  followed  by  various  speak- 
ers, all  of  whom  concurred  in  recommend-- 
ing  that  instant  faith  in  Christ  should  be 
urged  in  the  case  of  anxious  souls. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Moody  gave  a  pow 
erful  address  on  "  Faith,"  and  there  were 
many  seeking  Christ. 

About  3,000  parer>ts  and  children  Avere 
present  in  Free  Trade  Hall  on  Saturday, 
the  19th,  at  noon.  A  letter  was  read  by 
Mr.  Sankey  from  the  children's  meeting  at 
Edinburgh.  It  was  printed,  and  a  copy 
given  to  all  present  last  Saturday. 


IX. 

The  mission  of  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  to  this  country  dates  from  July  in 
last  year. 

It  was  the  late  Mr.  Pennefather,  of  Lon- 
don, and  a  Mr.  Bainbridge,  of  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne,  who  induced  the  two  American 
preachers  to  extend  their  mission  to  this 
country.  After  long  hesitation  they  ac-' 
cepted  the  invitation ;  but  before  they 
reached  Liverpool  both  Mr.  Pennefather 
and  Mr.  Bainbridge  were  dead. 

"  We  arrived  in  York  on  Saturday  night 
in  July,  1873,"  says  Mr.  Moody,  "and  did 
not  know  a  soul  in  the  place."  They  soon 
made  friends,  however,  though  during  their 
stay  in  the  city  their  fame  had  not  gone 
beyond  the  circles  of  the  chapel  congre- 
gations whose  ministers  had  lent  their  pul- 
pits to  the  strangers. 

From  York  they  went  to  Newcastle-on- 
Tyne,  and  here  they  began  to  attract  pub- 
lic attention,  great  crowds  gathering  around 
them,  not  alone  in  Newcastle,  but  in  all 
the  towns  on  Tyneside  which  they  visited 


MANCHESTER. 


107 


in  succession.  From  here  they  went  to 
Edinburgh,  and  were  received  with  an  en- 
thusiasm that  was  surprising  to  lookers-on. 
The  local  clergy  came  forward,  and  not 
only  offered  their  pulpits,  but  supported 
the  strangers  with  their  presence  when- 
ever they  appeared  in  public.  Mr.  Moody 
preached  and  Mr.  Sankey  sang  twice  and 
thrice  a  day;  but  every  day  thousands 
were,  for  lack  of  room,  turned  away  from 
the  doors  of  the  halls  and  churches  where 
the  services  were  being  held. 

The  growing  wave  of  enthusiasm  car- 
ried them  through  Dundee,  and  other 
towns  of  the  North,  and  appeared  to  cul- 
minate in  Belfast  and  Dublin,  whither  they 
next  directed  their  steps.  The  impression 
created  in  the  latter  town  will  be  best  un- 
derstood by  mention  of  the  fact  that  the 
meetings  were  held  in  the  Exhibition  Pal- 
ace, which  is  capable  of  holding  14,000 
persons,  and  which  was  always  crammed 
to  the  doors  when  Moody  and  Sankey 
were  announced  to  appear.  From  Dublin 
they  came  hither,  and  commenced  work 
under  circumstances  that  were  all  the  more 
disheartening  with  the  memory  of  the 
eager  throng  in  Dublin  still  fresh  in  their 
minds.  At  first-  the  Oxford  Hall  was 
found  more  than  large  enough  for  all  who 
cared  to  assemble;  and  when  the  Free 
Trade  Hall  was  adventured  upon,  there 
were  a  good  many  empty  benches.  But 
day  by  day  the  excitement  rose,  and  if 
there  were  any  hall  in  the  city  that  would 
hold  15,000  people,  it  would  certainly  be 
filled  at  any  one  of  the  meetings. 

As  to  the  practical  issue  of  the  work,  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  in  Dundee  a  body 
of  young  men  have  united  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying   on   the  work   in    that   town. 
Their  scheme  is  to  prepare  a  breakfast,  to 
which  they  invite  all  homeless  people  who 
can  be  found  in  the  streets,  and  after  com- 
forting them  with  coffee  and  filling  them 
with  bread  and  butter,  they  talk  to  them 
in  a  friendly  way  about  their  present  mode 
of  living,  and  try  to  lead  them  into   the 
way  of  doing  better.     Again,  it   is  said, 
that  in  Belfast  a  number  of  clerks  in  ware- 
houses and  offices— as   many  as  seventy 
are   from   a    single    establishment  —  have 
formed  themselves  into  an  association,  and 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of 
bringing  all  their  fellow-clerks  to  a  "  knowl- 
edge of  Jesus."    In  Liverpool  ;!^5,ooo  have 
been  raised  for  the  erection  of  a  temporary 
edifice,    in    which    Messrs.    Moody    and 
Sankey  may  conduct  their  services  when 


they  visit  that  town.  This  money,  like 
the  rest  of  the  large  sums  required  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  tour  through  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  comes  from  unknown 
hands,  at  least  to  the  extent  that  it  is  pri- 
vately and  quietly  subscribed,  without  ap- 
peals from  the  pulpit  or  publication  of 
lists  of  donations  by  the  press.  There 
has,  I  am  assured,  been  only  one  collec- 
tion made  from  congregations  gathered, to 
hear  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  and  that 
was  in  Dublin  on  Hospital  Sunday. 


X. 

SUTvlMARY  OF   THE  WORK  IN 
MANCHESTER. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  left  us,  for 
the  present  at  least,  on  the  afternoon  of 
Thursday,  the  last  day  of  1874.  For  four 
weeks,  in  the  darkest,  coldest,  and  dreari- 
est season  of  the  year,  have  these  men  of 
God  toiled  among  us  with  an  am^ount  of 
diligence  and  zeal  such  as  I  never  saw 
equaled,  far  less  surpassed  ;  and  what  has 
been  the  result.?  That  is  the  question 
that  shaped  itself  in  my  mind.  A  com- 
plete answer  to  it  would  cover  page  after 
page  of  this  journal.  Only  eternity  will 
disclose  the  ailf'iount  of  good  that  has  been 
done  through  their  instrumentality.  To 
speak  figuratively,  we  have  had  summer 
in  the  depth  of  winter.  The  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness has  shone  forth  most  brightly 
and  genially,  even  while  the  material  sun 
has  been  hid  from  view  amid  fog  and  dark- 
ness. From  the  lips  of  hundreds  the  song 
might  have  been  heard,  "  Lo,  the  winter 
is  past,  the  rain  is  over  and  gone;  the 
flowers  appear  on  the  earth;  the  time  of 
the  singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice 
of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land." 

In  speaking  of  definite  results,  so  far  as 
these  can  be  ascertained,  I  may  be  for- 
given if  I  begin  with  the  ministers  of  Man- 
chester. If  one  class  has  been  blessed 
more  than  another  during  these  four_  past 
weeks,  it  has  been  the  regular  Christian 
ministry.  I  am  sure  I  speak  the  senti- 
ments of  all  my  brethren,  who  have  thrown 
themselves  heart  and  soul  into  the  move- 
ment, when  I  say  that  we  have  received 
nothing  less  than  a  fresh  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Our  own  souls  have  been 
quickened.  Our  faith  in  the  adaptation 
of  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God 
to  the  wants  and  longings  cf  the  human 
spirit  has  been  deepened.     Our  sense  of 


io8 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  magnitude  and  responsibility  of  our 
offices  as  heaven's  ambassadors,  charged 
with  a  message  of  reconciliation  and  love 
for  the  guiltiest  of  the  guilty,  and  the 
vilest  of  the  vile,  has  been  greatly  increas- 
ed. AVe  have  had  demonstrated  to  us  in 
a  way  that  at  once  startled  and  delighted 
some  of  us,  that  after  all,  the  grand  levers 
for  raising  souls  out  of  the  fearful  pit  and 
the  miry  clay,  are  just  the  doctrines  which 
our  so-called  advanced  thinkers  are  trying 
to  persuade  the  Christian  world  to  discard 
as  antiquated  and  impotent.  These  are 
— the  doctrine  of  the  atoning  death  of 
Jesus  Christ ;  the  doctrine  of  a  living, 
loving,  personal  Saviour  ;  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  new  birth,  by  the  Spirit  and  the 
Word  of  Almighty  God.  One  of  our 
ablest  ministers,  at  the  noon  prayer-meet- 
ing, on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  solemnly 
declared  that,  whereas  the  first  of  these 
cardinal  verities  had  not  been  fully  real- 
ized by  him  before  these  services  com- 
menced, he  now  felt  it  to  be  a  spring  of 
joy  and  satisfaction  to  his  soul  such  as 
language  could  hardly  express.  And  then 
how  shall  I  speak  of  the  gladness  that  has 
filled  our  hearts  when  we  heard,  as  we  did 
almost  from  day  to  day,  of  conversions  in 
our  congregations,  of  parents  rejoicing 
over  sons  and  daughters  brought  to  Jesus, 
of  young  men  consecrating  their  manhood 
and  strength  to  God,  and  of  converts  of- 
fering themselves  for  any  department  of 
Christian  service. 

If  our  dear  friend,  Mr.  Moody,  had  ac- 
complished nothing  more  than  the  quick- 
ening of  the  ministers  of  this  great  centre 
of  population,  and  stirring  us  up  to  greater 
devotion  to  our  glorious  vocation  as  "  la- 
borers together  with  God,"  his  visit  would 
not  have  been  in  vain.  Give  us  a  revived 
ministry,  and  we  shall  soon  see  a  revived 
church. 

Next  to  the  Christian  ministry,  I  believe 
the  great  army  of  Christian  workers  have 
shared  most  largely  in  the  blessing.  Per- 
haps the  most  remarkable,  in  every  respect, 
of  all  the  services  held  by  tire  evangelists 
during  their  stay  here  were  those  on  Sun- 
day mornings  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall. 
With  the  exception  of  one  of  these  morn- 
ings, the  weather  was  as  severe  as  any  we 
have  had  in  this  exceptionally  severe  win- 
ter, and  yet  the  vast  building  was  densely 
packed,  at  the  early  hour  of  eight,  with 
audiences  presumably  composed  of  Sun- 
day-school teachers,  tract  distributors,  dis- 
trict visitors,  missionaries,  evangelists,  etc., 


drawn  not  only  from  the  city  and  borough, 
but  from  the  whole  surrounding  district. 
The  fruits  of  these  wonderful  meetings  are 
already  apparent.  I  question  if  there  be 
a  single  Christian  agency  m  all  Manchester 
that  has  not  been  the  better  for  them.  From 
that  one  meeting,  as  from  a  great  fountain- 
head,  streams  of  blessing  have  flowed,  are 
flowing  still,  and,  I  believe,  will  continue 
to  flow,  that  will  spread  life  and  beauty 
over  the  whole  field  of  Christian  work, 
such  as  we  have  not  witnessed  here  before. 
Teachers  went  straight  from  the  hall,  in 
many  instances,  to  their  classes,  with  their 
souls  fired  with  love  for  their  scholars. 
Missionaries  received  fresh  impetus  and 
courage  for  their  peculiarly  difficult  work 
of  going  from  door  to  door,  knocking  for 
admittance  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Visit- 
ors of  tract  districts  felt  stimulated  to 
greater  diligence  in  the  discharge  of  their 
important  duty,  as  the  bearers  of  those 
silent  monitors  from  house  to  house  that 
have  so  often  brought  "  light  into  the 
dwelling."  Above  all,  drones  felt  rebuked, 
and  ceased  to  be  drones.  Recruits  in  large 
numbers  were  enlisted  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  and  King.  Many  who  had  been 
languidly  sighing  out,  "  My  leanness,  my 
leanness!"  were  constrained  to  cry  out, 
"My  laziness,  my  laziness!"  and  to  add 
in  all  seriousness,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  Thou 
have  me  to  do .''"  In  short,  could  our 
American  brethren  repeat  these  addresses 
in  that  great  hall  once  every  year,  they 
would  do  for  our  various  Christian  organ- 
izations what  requires  to  be  done  period- 
ically for  the  machinery  of  our  mills  and 
factories — overhaul  them  completely,  re- 
new and  improve  much  of  their  belting 
gearing,  and  render  their  operation  at  once 
more  vigorous  and  more  productive. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  has  also  been 
largely  blessed.  Like  some  old  Eastern 
well,  it  has  been  daily  visited  by  hundreds, 
who  have  refreshed  their  souls  with  the 
water  of  life,  and  returned  to  their  busi- 
nesses and  their  homes  feeling  that  the 
"  sweet  hour  of  prayer  "  was  the  sweetest 
of  all  the  hours  of  the  day.  And  the  re- 
quests for  prayer  that  have  been  presented, 
— who  shall  number  them  ? — who  shall  even 
classify  them  1  Above  all,  who  shall  say 
what  revelations  they  afforded  of  the  yearn- 
ing solicitude,  the  agonizing  supplications, 
the  impassioned  cries,  that  exercise  the 
souls  of  immortal  beings,  in  every  relation 
and  condition  of  life,  in  this  world  of  dis- 
tance and  darkness  1    Whatever  some  may 


MANCHESTER. 


109 


think  of  this  novel  feature  in  the  mode  of 
conducting  a  prayer-meeting,  I  feel  sure, 
from  observation  and  experience,  that  it 
has  imparted  new  life  and  interest  to  a 
much-neglected  institution.  These  re- 
quests have  given  reality  and  intensity  to 
the  prayers  that  were  offered.  They  drew 
out  our  sympathies  towards  our  fellow- 
Christians,  in  connection  with  trials  and 
wants  such  as  never  entered  our  minds  to 
conceive.  They  made  us  feel  that  "  one 
touch  of  Nature  makes  the  whole  world 
kin,"  that  "  as  in  water,  face  ansvvereth  to 
face,  so  doth  the  heart  of  man,"  that  we 
are  all  members  of  the  one  family  called 
by  the  one  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  They 
did  m.ore  than  that — they  gave  us  glimpses 
of  the  fullness  that  is  in  our  Redeemer,  out 
of  v/hich  so  many  thousands  may  draw, 
"  and  grace  for  grace  " — "  enough  for  all, 
enough  for  each,  enough  forevermore." 
And,  in  hundreds  of  cases,  they  have  not 
been  in  vain,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  fact, 
so  frequently  brought  out  at  these  meet- 
ings, that  thanksgivings  have  been  publicly 
made  for  abundant  answers  to  them,  some- 
times vouchsafed  in  very  wonderful  ways. 
Parents  have  stood  up  and  given  thanks 
for  the  conversion  of  their  children,  and 
children  for  the  conversion  of  their  par- 
ents— brothers  for  the  conversion  of  sis- 
ters, and  sisters  for  the  conversion  of 
brothers — teachers  for  the  conversion  of 
their  scholars,  and  ministers  for  the  con- 
version of  some  even  of  their  church-mem- 
bers. "  And  now,  O  Lord,  we  thank  and 
praise  Thy  glorious  name  !"  "  Not  unto 
us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy 
name,  be  praise,  for  Thy  mercy,  and  for  Thy 
truth's  sake  !"  "  Praise  the  Lord,  O  Jeru- 
salem ;  praise  thy  God,  O  Zion,  for  He 
hath  strengthened  the  bars  of  thy  gates  ; 
He  hath  blessed  thy  children  within  thee  !" 
The  afternoon  Bible-readings  have 
been  greatly  relished  by  thousands.  At 
these  Mr.  Moody  surprised  and  delighted 
many  of  us  ministers  by  his  wonderful 
acquaintance  with  the  Word  of  God. 
Whatever  the  subject  in  hand,  whether  the 
Blood,  confessing  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit, 
grace,  faith,  or  assurance,  he  proved  him- 
self to  be  a  very  giant  in  Bible  knowledge  ; 
and  though  the  immense  audiences,  com- 
prising some  of  the  best  of  our  citizens, 
did  not  come  provided  with  the  Book  so 
generally  as  they  might  have  done,  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  in  hundreds  of  cases 
they  went  home  to  it  with  souls  hungering 
after  righteousness,  and  determined  to  be- 


come better  acquainted  with  the  word  of 
life. 

THE    EVANGELISTIC    MEETINGS. 

What  shall  I  say  of  these  in  closing.? 
They  have  been  blessed  to  vast  numbers. 
In  the  inquiry-room,  I  have  mot  with  many 
who  stated  that  they  had  never  had  the 
way  of  salvation  so  plainly  put  before 
them  as  by  Mr.  Moody.  In  not  a  few  in- 
stances, too,  Mr.  Sankey's  beautiful  and 
touching  solos,  especially  "  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth passeth  by,"  "  Almost  persuaded,"  and 
"  Prodigal  child,"  have  proved  to  be  ar- 
rows of  conviction,  entering  the  heart  in 
the  most  unexpected  manner,  and  leading 
to  conversion.  And  what  shall  I  more  say  } 
for  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  all  the 
blessed  fruits,  already  apparent,  of  the  ex- 
traordinary efforts  of  these  dear  men  of 
God.  Suffice  it  to  say,  in  a  sentence,  that 
all  classes  of  the  community — old  and 
young,  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant, 
ministers  and  laymen,  masters  and  ser- 
vants, teachers  and  scholars — have  received 
a  large  blessing  from  the  religious  services 
conducted  by  the  American  brethren,  and 
are  deeply  sensible,  I  trust,  of  the  mighty 
debt  of  gratitude  under  which  they  have 
been  laid.  The  Lord  bless  them,  and 
make  them  blessings,  wherever  they  go  ! 


XI. 

The  closing  week  has  been  the  most  joy- 
ful of  all.  The  tide  of  blessing,  which  has 
been  steadily  rising,  has  this  week  reached 
its  flood ;  the  earnestness  of  the  preacher 
and  the  eagerness  of  the  people  have 
seemed  alike  to  intensify,  and  the  uncon- 
verted have  been  called  to  take  refuge  in 
Christ  with  a  vehemence  of  entreaty  which 
has  exerted  a  mighty  influence  on  the  as- 
semblies. During  these  five  weeks  God 
has  answered  the  prayers  of  many  years, 
and  we  cannot  but  feel  that  what  has  been 
going  on  in  the  city  has  made  Manchester 
peculiarly  interesting  to  the  dwellers  in 
heaven. 

At  nine  on  Wednesday  evening,  about 
2,000  men  reassembled  in  the  hall,  to  hear 
what  Mr.  Moody  had  to  say  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associ- 
ation. Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  occupied  the 
chair,  and  gave  a  brief  address,  intimating 
that  it  was  in  contemplation  to  buy  the  Mu- 
seum for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, for  ;^3o,ooo.     Mr.  Moody  deliv- 


no 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ered  an  inspiring  address,  in  which  he  en- 
larged on  the  spiritual  advantages  of  the  As- 
sociation, and  urged  the  straining  of  every 
effort  to  reach  the  young  men  of  Manches- 
ter, and  to  secure  the  building  in  question 
for  the  Association.  A  collection  towards 
the  object,  made  at  the  close,  realized 
;^i,8oo,  jQ\poo  of  which  was  given,  I  be- 
lieve, by  the  chairman.  This  amount,  with 
what  has  been  received  before,  including 
;,^5oo  given  last  week  by  Mr.  J.  Stuart, 
makes  a  total,  at  present  received  or 
promised,  of  ;^8,ooo. 

On  Thursday  morning,  Mr.  Moody  ad- 
dressed a  crowded  meeting  in  the  Higher 
Broughton  Presbyterian  Church,  and  then 
came  on  to  the  noon  prayer-meeting  in  the 
Oxford  Hall,  where  he  read  and  com- 
mented on  the  earlier  part  of  the  103d 
Psalm.  He  said  he  had  to  bless  the  Lord 
for  what  He  had  done  for  him.  It  had 
been  the  best  year  of  his  life.  He  had 
been  more  used  by  God  than  in  all  the 
seventeen  preceding  years.  He  did  not 
know  of  one  sermon  he  had  delivered 
that  had  not  been  blessed  to  the  convic- 
tion or  conversion  of  some  souls.  It  was 
a  delightful  meeting.  Every  word  uttered 
was  set  to  the  tune  of  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul !"  When  one  minister  rose  to 
say,  "  I  have  to  praise  God  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  brother  of  dear  friends  of  mine, 


who  have  prayed  for  him  twenty-five  years ; 
for  the  conversion  of  the  sister  and  of  the 
servant  of  another  friend  ;  for  the  salvation 
of  three  persons  in  my  own  congregation, 
for  the  dispelling  of  the  doubts  of  a  young 
man  who  traveled  150  miles  to  these  meet- 
ings— all  which  blessings  have  been  given 
in  the  course  of  the  present  week;"  when 
another  minister  rose  to  say  he  had  never 
met  with  so  much  of  scriptural  teaching 
concerning  the  way  of  salvation,  and  the 
clear  direction  of  inquirers  to  Jesus,  as  in 
Mr.  Moody's  addresses;  and  another  to 
say  that  the  last  ten  days  had  been  the 
happiest  of  his  life — that  he  had  derived 
an  inspiration,  had  discovered  how  to 
preach  Christ,  had  enjoyed  sweeter  com- 
munion with  Jesus,  and  felt  like  a  man 
whose  chains  were  broken — they  only  ut- 
tered what  many  could  have  endorsed,  as 
a  description  of  the  blessings  they  them- 
selves had  received. 

Our  beloved  brethren  left  in  the  after- 
noon for  Sheffield,  whither  our  psayers  fol- 
low them.  They  are  to  return,  however, 
for  Friday  and  Saturday,  January  8'  and  9, 
and  then  we  hope  not  only  to  have  a  repe- 
tition of  the  blessings  we  have  so  abun- 
dantly received,  but  to  hear  glad  tidings  of 
similar  grace  bestowed  on  the  neighboring 
town. 


THE  V^^ORK   IN   SHEFFIELD. 


I. 

On  Thursday  afternoon,  our  beloved 
brethren,  whose  visit  has  been  looked  for- 
ward to  with  much  earnest  desire  by  the 
Lord's  people  here,  arrived  from  Man- 
chester, and  held  their  first  meetings,  the 
same  evening,  in  the  Temperance  and 
Albert  Halls. 

Considerable  excitement  was  manifested, 
a  few  days  ago,  when  it  was  reported  that 
the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  had 
withdrawn  from  the  executive  committee, 
and  that,  in  consequence,  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  had  refused  to  pay  their  ex- 
pected visit.  It  is,  however,  a  matter  of 
deep  thankfulness  to  God  that  this  diffi- 
culty has  been  overcome.  The  clergy 
have  rejoined  the  committee,  and  every- 


thing is  working  smoothly.  I  am  glad  to 
be  able  to  state  that  the  difficulty  was  only 
one  of  a  mere  technical  kind,  arising  from 
a  proposed  scheme  of  house-to-house  visi 
tation  which  interfered  with  parochial 
boundaries ;  and  in  their  letter  of  with- 
drawal, the  clergy  stated  that  their  only 
motive  in  doing  so  was  to  remove  the 
hindrances  to  the  visitation,  and  that  their 
feelings  and  sympathies  were  unchanged 
as  regards  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's 
mission.  When,  however,  it  became  known 
that,  in  consequence  of  their  action,  Mr. 
Moody  had  declined  to  come  to  Sheffield, 
the  visitation  scheme,  which  formed  a  part 
of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  personal 
work,  was  abandoned  for  the  present,  and 
the  clergy,  as  I  have  said,  rejoined  the 
committee,   and   are   now   working    most 


SHEFFIELD. 


in 


heartily  with  the  ministers  of  other  denom- 
inations, for  the  furtherance  of  the  one 
blessed  object  of  leading  perishing  souls  to 
Christ. 


II. 

The  work  has  opened  here  most  auspi- 
ciously ;  the  two  meetings  held  on  New 
Vear's  eve  were  crowded,  and  the  impres- 
sions produced  were  most  solemn. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  in  the  Tem- 
perance Hall  at  nine  o'clock.  Mr.  Sankey 
sang  a  new  hymn  written  by  Dr.  H.  Bonar 
expressly  for  him,  "  Rejoice,  and  be  glad ! 
the  Redeemer  has  come."  The  air,  which 
has  been  set  to  these  words,  is  peculiarly 
appropriate,  a  bright,  joyous  melody. 

The  impression  produced  by  his  singing 
was  very  striking ;  those  who  had  been 
merely  curious  or  altogether  indifferent, 
seemed  attracted,  and  earnest  attention 
and  even,  in  some  cases,  silent  weeping, 
took  the  place  of  carelessness.  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  on  the  subject  of  "  Work,"  dwelling 
chiefly  on  Isaiah  vi.  8  :  "  Here  am  I ;  send 
me."  His  address  was  well  fitted  to  stir 
the  Christians  of  this  town  to  be  up  and 
doing.  In  concluding,  he  appealed  to  all 
to  come  forward  heart  and  soul,  "  and  let 
us  have  a  fortnight  of  faithful,  prayerful 
work  for  God."  The  watch  night  service 
was  particularly  solemn.  The  Albert  Hall, 
where  it  was  held,  was  crowded,  many 
having  stood  before  the  doors  an  hour  be- 
fore they  were  opened,  in  order  to  make 
sure  of  admittance. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  were  ac- 
companied onto  the  platform  by  a  large 
number  of  ministers  of  all  denominations, 
amongst  whom  were  the  following:  the 
Vicar  (the  Rev.  Rowley  Hill),  Rev.  R. 
Stainton,  Rev.  J.  Smith,  Rev.  R.  Poole, 
Rev.  R.  Green,  Rev.  J.  Flather,  Rev.  P. 
Whyte,  Rev.  J.  Calvert,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Wright,  Rev.  M.  Washington,  Rev.  G.  J. 
Watts,  Rev.  W.  Cobby,  Rev.  B.  Trotter, 
and  many  others.  The  Vicar  offered  up  a 
fervent  prayer  for  the  Divine  blessing  on 
the  work  in  Sheffield. 

One  most  interesting  feature  in  this  ser- 
vice was  Mr.  Sankey's  singing  of  *'  Jesus 
of  Ndzareth  passeth  by."  It  might  be  the 
novelty  of  his  style,  or  the  associations 
naturally  arising  at  the  near  approach  of 
the  new  year,  but  I  certainly  have  never 
seen  such  an  effect  produced.  I  have 
heard  him  in  all  the  towns  they  have  visit- 
ed in  Scotland,  and  also  in  Manchester; 


but  I  never  heard  him  sing  so  pathetically 
more  especially  in  the  last  stanzas  : 

"  Too  late  !  too  late  !  will  be  the  cr)', 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  passed  by." 

Mr.  Moody  spoke  from  Luke  xix.  lo 
"  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost."  As  illus- 
trating this  verse,  he  graphically  narrated  * 
the  two  stories  immediately  preceding  his 
text,  that  of  the  opening  of  the  eyes  of 
blind  Bartimeus,  and  the  conversion  of 
Zaccheus.  It  was  only  a  re-telling  of  the 
stories,  but  given  in  that  way  peculiarly 
Mr.  Moody's  own,  making  his  listeners 
part  and  parcel  of  the  story,  as  if  the 
whole  thing  were  enacted  just  in  the  Tar- 
gate,  and  Jesus  were  just  passing  the  hall- 
doors.  He  connected  the  two  stories  by 
throwing  out  the  thought  that  as  Bartimeus 
was  on  his  way  home  to  tell  his  wife,  Zac- 
cheus met  him.  "  Why,  isn't  that  the  poor 
blind  beggar — it's  like  him ;  but  it  can't 
be  he,  for  his  eyes  are  open." 
"  Yes,  it  is  I." 

"  What  has  made  your  eyes  open  .?" 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth  did  it." 
"Where  is  He.?     I  must  see  Him." 
"  He's  just  on  the  road  to  Jericho." 
Away  Zaccheus  runs  ;  and  because  he 
is  a  little  man,  he  gets  up  a  tree,  to   see 
well.     Jesus   stops,   looks   up,    calls  him, 
"  Zaccheus,  come  down."     This  was  one 
instance    of    sudden    conversion.      Some 
don't  believe  in  sudden  conversion ;  but 
here  Zaccheus  was  not  converted  when  he 
went  up  the  tree,  yet  he  came  down  a  con- 
verted  man.     We   are   told   he    received 
Jesus   gladly.     From  these  incidents,  he 
proved  how  willing,  how  eager  Christ  is  to 
save  all.     What  have  we  to  do .?     Nothing ! 
blessed  be  God.     If  we   had,  we   would 
never   do   it.      Only   accept.     What   had 
Zaccheus  to  do  1     Only  come  down,  only 
obey. 

He  concluded  by  drawing  the  attention 
of  the  audience  to  the  fact  that  the  old 
year  was  fast  dying — only  a  few  minutes- 
— and  what  if  the  new  year  should  come 
and  find  us  where  we  were — lost !  Oh, 
let  each  of  us  take  it,  the  offer  is  here; 
will  you  have  it  ?  Salvation — ay,  even  be- 
fore this  year  is  closed  you  may  be  saved. 
As  there  are  only  a  few  minutes  of  this 
year  remaining,  let  us  finish  the  old  and 
begin  the  new  on  our  knees. 

The  whole  audience  then  sank  on  their 
knees,  and  the  new  year  found  them  bent 
in  silent  prayer.     Mr.  Moody  asked   that 


112 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


those  who  were  unsaved  might  stand  up, 
that  they  might  be  prayed  for.  For  a 
time  none  were  willing  to  do  so,  but  on 
Mr.  Moody's  asking  a  second  time  "  if 
there  were  none  in  the  hall  wishing  salva- 
tion," a  few  stood  up,  and  the  Christians 
were  asked  to  pray  for  them. 

Just  then  the  bells  began  to  ring  in  the 
new  year,  and  the  Rev.  R.  Green  engaged 
in  prayer  for  an  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  on  the  town  of  Sheffield,  and  most 
particularly  on  the  special  meetings  to  be 
held.  Mr.  Moody  also  engaged  in  prayer. 
This  was  one  of  the  most  solemn  scenes  I 
have  ever  been  privileged  to  witness. 
While  the  audience  were  bent  in  Drayer, 
the  most  intense  stillness  prevailed, l)roken 
only  by  an  occasional  sob.  After  singing 
the  Doxology,  the  meeting  separated. 

The  streets  were  made  lively  after  the 
meeting  with  vigorous  singing  of  hymns,  as 
bands  of  Christians  wended  their  way 
home. 

Neiv  Years  Day. — The  noon-day  meet- 
ing was  held  in  the  lower  Cutlers'  Hall. 
It  is  a  great  pity  this  hall  is  so  dark  and 
confined.  The  platform  is  nothing  but  a 
mere  box.  It  is  to  be  hoped  the  ensuing 
meetings  will  be  held  in  some  hall  more 
suited  for  speaking.  Mr.  Moody  chose  as 
his  subject,  "  Faith,"  as  illustrated  by  the 
healing  of  the  leper  and  that  of  the  man 
sick  of  the  palsy,  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
Luke.  Mr.  Sankey  engaged  in  prayer,  and 
also  sang  his  beautiful  solo,  "  Whatsoever 
a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap." 


III. 

Friday  evening  meeting  was  also  held  in 
the  Cuders'  Hall.  After  the  opening  hymn, 
"  Free  from  the  law,  O  happy  condition  !" 
had  been  sung,  the  Rev.  F.  Kellet  engaged 
in  prayer.  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  The  Nmety 
and  nine;"  before  singing  it,  he  asked  that 
whilst  he  was  singing,  Christian  friends 
might  pray  for  tlie  salvation  of  those  who 
were  wanderers. 

Mr.  Moody's  address  was  on  the  "  Gos- 
pel" (Mark  xvi.  15)  :  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting,  Mr. 
Moody  said  there  would  be  a  prayer-meet- 
ing for  those  who  loved  the  Lord,  and 
asked  any  who  were  in  anxiety  about  their 
souls  to  go  into  the  side  room.     He  ex- 


plained that  an  inquiry-meeting  was  sim- 
ply to  give  an  opportunity  for  a  little  pri- 
vate talk  about  salvation  to  any  who  wished 
it.  He  had  found  in  all  his  experience 
that  he  could  do  more  good  in  five  min- 
utes' private  talk  with  a  man,  than  in  five 
hours'  talk  from  the  platform. 

The  noon-day  meeting  on  Saturday  was 
intended  particularly  for  parents  and  chil- 
dren. It  was  held  in  the  Temperance 
Hall.  Mr.  Moody  spoke  the  truths  of  the 
glorious  gospel  in  such  a  simple  style  that 
the  youngest  child  could  not  fail  to  catch 
his  meaning.  He  kept  their  attention 
fixed  by  judicious  questions,  such  as, 
"  What  did  Jesus  come  to  this  world 
for.?"  "To  save  us."  "Who  did  He 
come  to  save  .'  "  "  Sinners."  "Are  there 
any  sinners  here  to-day  .?"  "Yes."  "Are 
there  many  ?  "  "  Yes,  we  are  all  sinners." 
"  What  will  take  away  our  sins  .'  "  "  The 
blood  of  Jesus." 

In  this  way  he  interested  the  little  ones, 
and  at  the  same  time  his  address  must 
have  been  most  impressive  to  all  present, 
more  especially  to  those  who  were  parents, 
as  he  dwelt  very  strongly  upon  the  duty 
of  seeing  that  the  children  were  led  to 
Jesus  in  their  youth. 


IV. 

Sunday,  January  3. — Truly  this  has 
been  a  day  of  blessing  for  Sheffield.  The 
meetings  have  been  attended  v/ith  most 
blessed  results. 

The  morning  meeting  for  Christian 
workers  was  not,  perhaps,  so  well  attended 
in  point  of  numbers  as  might  have  been 
expected,  but  the  Christians  who  had 
come  out  at  this  early  hour  were  right- 
down  hearty  v/orkers.  As  Mr.  Moody 
said,  "  He  would  rather  have  a  moderately 
small  meeting  of  such  earnest  Christians 
than  have  it  packed  with  thousands  of 
careless  people."  His  address  was  on 
"  Work  "  (Mark  xiii.  14) :  "  To  every  man 
his  work."  Faithfully  and  earnestly  did 
he  lay  it  before  his  audience,  that  there 
was  for  each  one  some  appointed  work, 
and  if  we  neglect  it  we  must  answer  for 
it.  He  also  showed  the  joy  of  working 
for  the  Lord,  and  its  reflex  effect  on  our 
souls  in  building  up  and  comforting  our 
hearts. 

At  the  afternoon  meeting,  the  Albert 
Hall  was  densely  packed  half  an  hour  be- 
fore the  time  ;  the  lower  Albert  Hall  was 


SHEFFIELD. 


__^3 

magnify  the  human  agents  in  the  work. 
The  mouths  of  those  who  do  not  sympa- 
thize Avith  the  movement  have  been  won-  ■ 
derfully  silent;  and  the  overshadowing" 
presence  and  power  of  God  have  revealed 
themselves,  even  in  this  respect. 

The  Sheffield  Methodist  devotes  a  large 
proportion  of  its  space  to  a  record  of  the 
meetings,  and  says,  in  a  sketch  of  Mr. 
Moody :  •       ' 

.  "  Some  say  .that  the  secret  of  his  success 
is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Sankey's  music  and 
singing.  Some  say  it  is  to  be  found  in 
that  tact  which  draws  large  numbers  of 
the  most  Christian  ministers  and  laymen 
around  him.  Our-  impression  and  belief 
is  this  :  he  is  full  of  the  love  of  Christ  and 
true  gospel  simplicity  ;  is  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  faith ;  fears  nobody, 
loves  everybody,  has  full  confidence  in  his 
plan  of  working,  and  in  a  deep  and  well- 
developed  Christian  experience  ;  carries 
in  his  own  bosom  that  divinely-written 
commentary  on  the  truth  of  God  which 
causes  him  to  pour  forth  streams  of  spirit- 
ual light  over  the  minds  of  his  crowding 
auditors.  The  consequence  is,  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  is  with  him,  and  multitudes 
believe  and  turn  to  the  Lord,  both  men 
and  women — yea,  and  children  also. 

"  We  have  been  told  that  some  of  Mr. 
Sankey's  hymns  are  rather  childish.  Our 
answer  was,  that  the  older,  wiser,  and  bet- 
ter we  grow,  the  more  childlike  we  be- 
come. Praise  God  for  sweet  hymns,  in 
which  both  very  old  and  very  young  Chris- 
tians can  happily  join." 

The  Sheffield  Indepe?!de}it,  of  Saturday, 
reports  several  of  Mr.  Moody's  addresses 
at  considerable  length.  Of  course,  the 
burning  earnestness  and  homely  bluntness 
of  his  delivery,  or  the  wonderfully  moving 
charm  of  Mr.  Sankey's  singing,  cannot  be 
reproduced  by  any  verbal  description; 
and  these  will  always  attract  the  multitude, 
both  careless  and  Christian,  although  the 
words  used  may  be  familiar. 

The  meetings  on  Monday  and  Tuesday 
of  last  week  do  not  call  for  any  special  no- 
tice. They  were  crowded— sometimes  to 
excess — and  in  every  way  indicative  of 
most  hopeful  results. 

On  Wednesday,  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr. 
Sankey  were  both  at  Manchester,  and  on 
Thursday,  as  the  Albert  Hall  was  engaged 
for  a  ball  in  the  evening,  the  evangelists 
did  not  hold  any  public  service,  but  from 
three  to  ten  o'clock  p.  m.  a  special  meet- 
ing for  inquirers,  in  the  Temperance  Hall, 


thrown  open  for  the  overflow,  but  even 
then  many  had  to  go  away  disappointed. 

Mr.  Moody  addressed  this  large  gather- 
ing from  Rom.  ii.  23  :  "  For  there  is  no 
difference."  Many  must  have  been  startled 
by  the  plain  way  in  which  he  put  this 
truth  before  them,  that  all  are  alike  in 
God's  sight.  He  does  not  divide  by 
classes  or  ranks,  rich  and  poor.  The 
only  division  before  God  is  saved  and  un- 
saved. 

Many  were  evidently  struck  to  the 
heart ;  some  whom  we  heard  scoffing  at 
the  commencement,  were  in  tears  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  address. 

When  Mr.  Sankey  followed  by  singing, 
"  Free  from  the  law,  O  happy  condition!  " 
it  seemed  to  produce  a  deep  impression. 

The  Sunday  evening  meeting  was  glori- 
ous. The  hall  was  again  densely  packed. 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  his  solo,  "  There  were 
ninety  and  nine."  Mr.  Moody  then  gave 
his  address  on  "  Regeneration,"  from  the 
words,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again  "  (John 
iii.  7).  His  thrilling  words  must  have 
gone  to  the  heart  of  many  grieved  ones 
who  had  been  awakened  by  the  former 
address  to  a  sense  of  their  lost  condition. 
The  result  of  the  whole  proceedings  in 
Sheffield  since  the  coming  of  our  dear 
brethren,  must  be  considered  highly  satis- 
factory, and  as  affording  great  cause  for 
thankfulness. 

Sheffield  has  been  cold  and  indifferent 
to  religious  matters,  but  we  hope  that  now 
when  it  has  been  shaken  the  blessed  result 
of  this  work  will  be  a  new  zeal'  for  the 
service  of  the  Lord,  and  a  desire  to  win 
souls  for  Christ. 


V. 

The  past  week  has  been  a  time  of  pente- 
costal  blessing  in  Sheffield.  The  town  has 
been  stirred  to  its  depths ;  more,  perhaps, 
than  any  of  the  towns  in  England  the 
evangelists  have  yet  visited,  considering 
the  short  time  they  have  been  here ;  and 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  has  been  manifestly 
working  in  many  hearts  that  have  hitherto 
been  strangers  to  His  power.  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  have  been  the  sub- 
ject of  common  conversation ;  and  while, 
no  doubt,  much  of  it  has  been  nothing 
more  than  curious  talk,  yet  there  remains 
a  large  and  solid  substratum  of  good,  and, 
I  trust,  lasting,  result.  And  yet  there  does 
not  appear  to  be  any  disposition  to  unduly 


114 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


was  attended  by  a  constant  stream  of 
anxious  ones,  who  were  pointed  Christ- 
ward,  there,  as  I  trust,  to  lose  their  bur- 
dens. 

Mr.  Moody  spoke  no  less  than  four 
times  on  Friday,  on  each  occasion  with 
much  power,  and  with  signs  following. 
It  need  scarcely  be  added  that  Mr.  San- 
key's  solos,  including  such  favorites  as 
"  Only  an  armor-bearer,"  "  Dare  to  be  a 
Daniel,"  "Whiter  than  snow,"  etc.,  deep- 
ened the  influences  produced  by  Mr. 
Moody's  impassioned  discourses.  Indeed, 
it  is  made  more  and  more  manifest  that 
the  special  gifts  of  each  evangelist  have 
been  most  happily  wedded  together  for  the 
common  purpose  they  have  in  view. 

At  the  closing  service  in  the  evening 
there  was  no  diminution  either  in  the  at- 
tendance or  the  interest.  It  was  chiefly 
intended  for  the  young  converts,  who  were 
admitted  by  ticket,  and  crowded  a  large 
part  of  the  area  of  the  Albert  Hall.  Both 
the  galleries  were  also  crammed  long  be- 
fore the  hour  of  commencing.  It  was  a 
glorious  and  inspiring  sight  to  look  on  such 
a  vast  sea  of  human  faces,  all  lit  up  with 
eager  expectation,  and  all  assembled  to 
hear  the  simple  story  of  the  Saviour's 
grace  and  .power.  The  scene  was  more 
impressive  still  when,  at  the  appointed 
hour,  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  having 
quietly  crossed  the  front  of  the  platform, 
and  taken  their  seats,  the  whole  assembly 
rose  and  joined  in  singing  the  hymn, 

"  Ring  the  bells  of  heaven,  there  is  J03'  to-day, 
For  a  soul  returning  from  the  wild." 

And  afterwards,  in  that  jubilant  old  hymn 
that  used  to  be  sung  at  revival  meetings 
fifteen  years  ago,  and  is  ever  fresh  and 
new  : 

"  O  happ3'  day  !  that  fixed  my  choice 
On  Thee,  my  Saviour  and  my  God  ; 
AVell  may  this  glowing  heart  rejoice, 
And  tell  its  raptures  all  abroad." 

After  Mr.  Sankey  had  sung  "Whiter 
than  snow,"  Mr.  Moody  spoke  with  his 
accustomed  pungency,  simplicity,  and 
power,  chiefly  addressing  the  young  con- 
verts. Surely  they  will  never  be  able  to 
forget  his  words  of  affectionate  encourage- 
ment and  caution,  as  he  pointed  out  the 
dangers  that  would  inevitably  come  to 
theim  in  their  Christian  life,  and  the  unfail- 
ing source  of  strength  amidst  them  all. 
Then  came  his  parting  words,  evidently 
painful  alike  to  speaker  and  hearers.  "  I 
have  learned  to  love  you,"  said  Mr.  Moody, 


and  the  earnest  gaze  and  tearful  eyes  be- 
fore him  testified,  more  loudly  than  words, 
how  his  love  was  reciprocated,  and  his 
labors  and  counsels  prized.  I  was  forcibly 
reminded  of  the  scene  of  Paul's  farewell 
meeting  with  the  elders  at  Miletum.  I 
verily  believe  that  many  hundreds  of 
young  converts  would,  one  and  all,  have 
fallen  on  Mr.  Moody's  neck,  and  kissed 
him,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words 
which  he  spake,  that  they  should  see  his 
face  no  more.  One  little  fellow,  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting,  came  to  me  in  great 
distress  when  he  found  that  Mr.  Moody 
had  left  without  having  given  him  a  shake 
of  his  hand. 

Before  the  meeting  was  dismissed,  Mr. 
Sankey  sang  a  parting  hymn  to  the  ten- 
derly pathetic  tune  of  "  Home,  sweet 
home,"  and  the  vast  crowd  lingered  long 
in  the  hall  where  Christ  had  won  so 
many  sons  and  daughters  within  the  past 
two  weeks. 

The  work  among  the  young  men  has 
been  taking  root  during  the  week,  and 
now  that  the  counter-attraction  of  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey's  services  is  wanting, 
it  is  believed  that  the  meetings  specially 
for  young  men  will  be  largely  attended 
and  much  blessed.  Mr.  Drummond  re- 
mains in  Sheffield  during  this  week,  to 
assist  in  consolidating  the  work  among  this 
important  clas3  of  the  community.  It  has 
been  a  "  Happy  New  Year  "  for  Sheffield, 
and  the  faith  of  the  Lord's  people  prompts 
them  to  hope  that  "  still  there's  more  to 
follow." 

Upwards  of  eighty — clergymen  of  all 
the  evangelical  denominations  in  the 
town,  and  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
mittee— met  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
at  breakfast  in  the  Imperial  Hotel,  on 
Saturday  morning,  to  bid  them  farewell. 
Reporters  were  excluded,  but  I  understand 
that  the  unanimous  expression  of  the  com- 
pany was  one  of  gratitude  to  the  evangel- 
ists for  their  untiring  and  successful  labors 
in  Sheffield,  and  for  the  spirit  of  cordial 
co-operation  among  the  various  divisions 
of  the  Church  that  their  visit  had  so  bless- 
edly generated.  Practical  as  he  always  is 
Mr.  Moody  used  the  occasion  to  urge  up 
on  the  committee  the  necessity  of  rearing 
a  central  and  suitable  building  in  the  town, 
where  all  those  interested  in  the  continued 
success  of  the  work  could  meet  on  neutral 
ground,  and  carry  on  the  meetings.  An 
influential  committee  of  laymen  was  ap- 
pointed to  take  immediate  steps  for  carry- 


BIRMINGHAM. 


"5 


ing  out  the  suggestion,  so  that  the  good 
work  may  go  on. 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  left  for  Bir- 
mingham on  Saturday  afternoon,  attended 
by  the  prayers  and  good  wishes  of  hun- 


dreds in  Sheffield  whose  hearts  have  been 
made  glad,  and  whose  lives  have  been 
illumined  through  their  instrumentality. 
May  our  loving  Father  in  heaven  have  all 
the  praise ! 


THE  V^ORK   IN   BIRMINGHAM. 


I. 

There  is  every  outward  indication  that 
the  wave  of  spiritual  awakening  and  quick- 
ening, now  passing  over  our  land,  is  about 
to  make  itself  felt  in  this  very  large  and 
important  centre  of  the  world's  industry 
also.  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  began 
their  labors  here  on  Sunday  last,  January 
17,  and  they  are  to  remain  in  the  town  for 
two  weeks.  Birmingham  has  been  called 
"  the  toy-shop  of  the  world,"  and  its  im- 
mense population — which  amounts  to 
nearly  400,000 — is  largely  made  up  of  the 
artisan  class.  Experience  has  shown  that 
wherever  the  American  evangelists  have 
gone — though  their  services  have  been  at- 
tended in  some  towns  by  numbers  of  those 
in  the  higher  ranks  of  society,  socially  con- 
sidered, and  also  by  a  sprinkling  of  the 
very  poor  and  degraded — the  bulk  of  those 
coming  under  their  influence  have  belonged 
to  what  we  are  accustoms^  to  call  the  mid- 
dle classes.  There  is,  therefore,  a  wide 
field  in  Birmingham  for  the  efforts  of  our 
American  brethren,  and  the  meetings  on 
Sunday  were  such  as  to  encourage  the  hope 
of  much  success. 

Their  first  meeting  was  held  at  the  some- 
v/hat  early  hour  of  eight,  but  long  before, 
just  as  the  grey  dawn  was  breaking  up, 
streams  of  people  were  moving  with  hur- 
ried feet  from  all  directions  to  the  place  of 
meeting,  the  Town  Hall.  By  the  time 
that  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  appeared 
on  the  platform,  the  fine  hall  was  crowded, 
passages  and  all,  with  some  3,000  people. 
The  meeting  was  advertised  for  "  Christian 
workers,"  but  there  did  not  appear  to  be 
any  restrictions  as  to  admission.  I  would 
fain  cherish  the  hope  that  those  present  on 
Sunday  morning  who  have  hitherto  done 
any  work  for  Christ,  went  away  with  a 
deeper  determination  to  devote  themselves 
to  it,  inspired  by  the  stirring  words  of  Mr. 
Moody,   and   constrained   by   the    heart- 


melting   tones 
songs. 


of    Mr.    Sankey's    sacred 


The  whole  audience  joined  heartily  at 
the  commencement,  in  singing  "  Hold  the 
fort,"  an  evident  proof  that  the  hymns 
used  at  these  services  have  now  become 
almost  household  possessions.  Then  Mr. 
Sankey  sang,  amid  the  utmost  silence,  the 
rousing  hymn,  "  Here  am  I,  send  me." 

Mr.  Moody's  address  was  directed 
specially  to  workers,  and  was  well  fitted 
to  awaken  the  slumbering  energies  of  the 
Church.  Mr.  Moody  is  very  careful  in  his 
addresses  to  lose  his  personality  in  his 
theme,  but  the  characteristics  of  Christian 
workers,  on  which  he  insisted,  are  all  re- 
markably apparent  in  his  own  character. 
They  were  "  courage,"  "  love,"  and  "  en- 
thusiasm," and  one  could  not  fail  to  be  im- 
pressed with  the  notion  that  he  was  speak- 
ing the  things  that  in  his  inmost  soul  he 
knew  and  acted  out.  His  wonderful  mag- 
netic power  was  shown  when  he  related 
some  of  his  oft-told  illustrations,  which 
seemed  to  lose  none  of  their  wonted  effect 
by  repetition.  Numbers  of  the  local 
clergy  and  ministers  were  on  the  platform. 

Half-past  two  Avas  the  specified  hour  for 
the  afternoon  service  in  the  Town  Hall,  but 
I  believe  the  building  was  surrounded  by 
crowds  waiting  admission  about  mid-day ; 
and  when  I  reached  the  hall,  some  time 
before  the  hour,  ingress  was  almost  impos- 
sible. At  the  church  which  stands  oppo- 
site, the  ordinary  service  was  going  on,  and 
it  too  was  speedily  filled  with  disappointed 
crowds,  while  hundreds  went  away.  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  into  the  hall  with  much 
difficulty,  just  as  Mr.  Sankey  was  about  to 
sing  for  a  closing  hymn,  "  The  Ninety  and 
nine."  His  few  touching  words  before  he 
commenced  to  sing,  and  the  pleading  tones 
of  his  rich,  full  voice,  as  he  sang  of  the 
lost  one  brought  back  at  such  a  terrible 
cost,  evidently  moved  and  thrilled  many 
hearts,  and  after  the  benediction  was  pro- 


ii6 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


nounced,  everybody  seemed  unwilling  to 
depart. 

Mr.  Moody's  theme,  I  learned,  was  "  the 
old,  old  story  "  of  the  cross — the  "  good 
news;"  and  its  effect  may  be  judged  from 
a  remark  made  to  me  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting — by  a  Methodist  local  preacher 
and  class  leader,  who,  he  said,  had  been 
converted  thirty-five  years — that  he  had 
never  seen  such  a  service  in  Birmingham 
before. 

After  the  audience  had  slowly  filtered 
out,  a  large  number  of  people  who  had 
been  unable  to  gain  admittance,  rushed  in, 
but  as  there  was  nobody  apparently  ap- 
pointed to  speak  in  such  an  emergency, 
and  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  had  gone, 
they  were  obliged  to  retire.  One  roughly- 
clad  man,  to  all  appearance  a  common  la- 
borer, who  had  come  in  after  the  meeting 
was  over,  seemed  much  disappointed.  He 
had  walked,  in  the  rain,  nearly  six  miles, 
in  order  to  hear  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey,  and  arrived  too  late  to  gain 
an  entrance.  He  said  he  had  to  walk 
back  again  and  preach  the  same  evening. 
He  was  somewhat  relieved  when  he  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  ticket  for  the  work- 
rs'  meeting  next  Sunday  morning  ;  but 
I  suspect  he  v/ill  have  to  start  from  home 
Defore  Birmingham  is  awake,  if  he  is  to 
make  sure  of  getting  inside  the  Town  Hall. 

Such  a  gathering  has  seldom,  if  ever, 
been  seen  in  this  town,  as  was  witnessed 
in  the  Bingley  Hall  on  Sunday  evening. 
Birmingham  has  the  reputation  of  being 
a  hot-bed  of  political  agitation  ;  and  on 
one  occasion,  I  am  informed,  this  stupen- 
dous building  was  filled  to  overflowing  to 
hear  John  Bright ;  but  it  is  a  new  thing 
for  it  to  be  crowded  with  10,000  souls  to 
hear  the  grospel  preached  and  sung. 
There  must  have  been  at  least  that  num- 
ber inside  the  doors,  and  how  many  were 
excluded  I  cannot  say ;  but  the  service 
was  somewhat  disturbed  ever  and  anon  by 
the  clamoring  multitude  outside  knocking 
at  the  doors  for  admission.  It  was  a  sight 
truly  gladdening  to  behold,  and  never  to 
be  forgotten. 

For  an  hour  or  so  before  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  arrived,  the  time  was  occupied 
in  singing  hymns,  and  as  soon  as  they 
reached  the  platform,  Mr.  Moody  asked 
all  to  join  in  singing  the  doxology,  "  Praise 
God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow."  It 
was  repeated  at  his  request,  with  a  more 
overpowering  volume  of  sound  than  be- 
fore. 


Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
passeth  by,"  and  subsequently,  "  The 
Ninety  and  nine,"  and  his  voice  rang 
through  the  immense  building  with  won- 
derful effect. 

Mr.  Moody  delivered  a  powerful  and 
affectionate  address  on  "  The  Gospel,"  in 
continuation  of  his  afternoon's  address  on 
the  same  subject.  He  seemed  as  if  he 
could  never  tire  of  dilating  on  the  absolute 
freeness  and  fullness  of  the  offer  of  salva- 
tion, and  his  illustrations,  as  usual,  were 
very  telling  and  appropriate. 

Altogether  it  has  been  a  memorable  day 
in  Birmingham.  At  none  of  the  meetings, 
however,  was  any  provision  apparently 
made  for  inquirers  ;  but  this  will  no  doubt 
be  seen  to  as  the  necessity  arises,  which  I 
trust  and  believe  it  will. 

Mr.  Moody  announced  that  there  would 
be  services  in  Bingley  Hall  every  evening 
except  Saturday,  at  half-past  seven  o'clock, 
and  a  noon  prayer-meeting  every  day  in 
the  Town  Hall. 

Thus  the  movement  has  taken  root  in 
Birmingham,  and  great  and  glorious  results 
may  be  confidently  expected. 


n. 

Never  before  in  Birmingham  have  any 
preachers  drawn  such  vast  numbers  of 
people  as  these  brethren  are  doing  at  this 
time.  Thousands  are  flocking  daily  to 
hear  them  from  the  districts  around.  The 
whole  community  seems  stirred  up.  That 
which  seems  ft)  be  uppermost  in  men's 
minds,  is  the  present  marvelous  gather- 
ings that  are  daily  taking  place.  There  is 
no  lack  of  opportunity  for  the  Christian  to 
put  in  a  word  for  the  Master,  for  wherever 
you  go,  whether  in  the  counting-house, 
shop,  refreshment-room,  train,  omnibus, 
and  even  as  you  walk  along  the  street,  the 
one  topic  is  the  doings  of  these  wonderful 
men  of  God.  If  you  want  to  get  a  seat  at 
their  meetings,  you  must  be  there  fully  one 
hour  before  the  time,  and  a  stranger  en- 
tering the  town  must  be  struck  with  the 
determination  of  those  who  daily  seek 
these  gatherings. 

Every  day  this  week  hundreds  have 
been  turned  away  from  the  noon-day  meet- 
ings held  in  the  Town  Hall.  Meetings 
are  now  being  held  in  Carr's  Lane  Chapel 
every  afternoon  at  three  o'clock,  and  here 
again  it  is  necessary  to  be  there  some  time 
before  the  service  commences.  In  fact, 
yesterday  I  was  there  at  two  o'clock,  and 


BIRMINGHAM. 


117 


the  body  of  the  chapel  was  then  filled.  It 
is  estimated  that  three  thousand  people  are 
in  this  building  every  afternoon. 

To  convey  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  the 
sight  which  presents  itself  on  entering 
Bingley  Hall  (the  place  of  evening  meet- 
ing) is  impossible.  Sloping  down  from 
the  galleries  which  run  round  the  build- 
ing, other  galleries  have  been  erected,  and 
the  whole  building,  from  the  speaker's 
platform,  looks  like  one  vast  amphitheatre. 
The  crimson  cloth  which  drapes  the  gal- 
leries adds  to  the  general  effect,  and  makes 
the  hall  (said  to  be  one  of  the  dreariest- 
looking  buildings  in  the  Midland  coun- 
ties) look  very  comfortable.  The  immense 
sea  of  faces  is  singularly  impressive,  espe- 
cially when  from  12,000  to  15,000  people 
are  listening  eagerly  to  catch  the  words 
that  fall  from  the  speaker's  lips. 

The  question  may  be  asked.  What  effect 
is  this  movement  having  upon  the  people 
in  general  1  I  reply,  good  every  way.  The 
stirring  addresses  given  by  Mr.  Moody  to 
Christians  from  the  very  first  morning,  are 
bearing  fruit.  They  are  beginning  to  look 
about,  and  realize  that  thousands  around 
them  are  living  without  Christ.  Many 
Christians  have  spoken  to  me  of  the  fresh 
energy  with  which  they  have  been  stimu- 
lated, through  attending  the  meetings.  As 
for  those  who  nightly  throng  Bingley  Hall, 
the  best  test  of  the  work  I  can  give  is,  that 
whereas  at  first  the  after-meetings  were 
held  in  a  neighboring  church,  the  anxious 
ones  have  now  become  so  numerous,  that 
they  are  obliged  to  remain  in  the  hall, 
while  earnest  Christian  workers,  with  Bible 
in  hand,  pass  from  one  to  another,  and 
open  to  inquirers  the  way  of  life. 

All  this  proves  to  us  the  great  power  of 
God,  and  what  He  can  do  by  two  men 
who  give  themselves  wholly  up  to  Him. 
The  work  "  is  marvelous  in  our  eyes,"  but 
it  is  not  less  marvelous  that  their  physical 
strength  does  not  give  way  under  their 
unceasing  labors.  While  Mr.  Sankey  is 
greatly  gifted  with  power  to  use  his  voice 
in  singing  the  gospel,  Mr.  Moody  has  a 
way  of  marvelously  picturing,  in  the  most 
vivid  manner,  Bible  truths.  From  the 
humorous  he  can  come  down  to  the  pa- 
thetic, and  so  move  his  hearers  to  tears, 
and  withal  there  is  a  "  holy  boldness  " 
which  is  seldom  to  be  met  with  in  the 
preachers  of  the  present  day.  May  the 
Lord  bless  abundantly  the  efforts  of  these 
men,  who  have  produced  such  an  unusual 
and  powerful  effect  upon  Birmingham. 


III. 

The  Morning  News  says :  "  Never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  Birmingham,  I  be- 
lieve, have  two  men  drawn  such  large 
numbers  of  people  together  as  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  have  done,  time  after 
time,  during  the  whole  of  last  week  and 
yesterday.  The  Town  Hall,  Carr's  Lane 
Chapel,  and  Bingley  Hall  have  been  en- 
tirely filled  at  most  of  their  meetings,  un- 
comfortably crowded  at  some,  and  all  but 
full  at  one  or  two  others.  Since  com- 
mencing their  labors  here,  they  have  held 
twenty-two  services,  namely,  four  in  Carr's 
Lane  Chapel,  six  in  the  Town  Hall,  and 
twelve  in  Bingley  Hall.  No  doubt  in 
many  cases  the  same  persons  presented 
themselves  at  the  meetings  again  and 
again ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  au- 
diences were,  for  the  most  part,  different 
on  each  occasion.  At  the  four  meetings 
in  Carr's  Lane  Chapel  some  12,000,  at  the 
six  in  the  Town  Hall  about  24,000,  and  at 
the  twelve  in  Bingley  Hall,  at  least  120,000 
persons  must  have  been  present,  making  a 
total  of  156,000  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, to  whom,  during  the  last  eight  days, 
they  have  preached  and  sung  the  gospel. 
Nor  does  the  interest  in  the  men  and  their 
work  as  yet  know  any  abatement,  it  being 
likely  that  the  services  to  be  held  this  week 
will  be  as  numerously  attended  as  those  of 
last  week." 


IV. 

Amidst  all  the  cavil  of  unbelief,  and 
other  opponents,  thousands  can  testify, 
day  by  day,  to  the  reality  zxid  poiver,  widely 
spreading  and  deepening  blessing  upon 
their  souls.  Sinners  have  been  converted 
to  God,  and  believers  edified.  Whole  con- 
gregations, both  in  churches  and  chapels, 
have  felt  its  animating  power.  The  clergy 
and  ministers  of  various  denominations 
have  rejoiced  together  in  this  blessed  work 
of  the  Lord,  and  felt  its  quickening  influ- 
ence. Many  of  the  Lord's  servants  have 
met  together  for  the  first  time,  and  felt 
their  hearts  drawn  out  in  brotherly  love 
and  sympathy,  enabling  them  to  overlook 
various  minor  differences  of  creed  and 
church  government. 

The  noon-day  prayer-meeting  was  first 
held  in  the  Town  Hall,  which  large  build- 
ing was  filled  long  before  the  appointed 
hour.  A  very  solemn  and  prayerful  spirit 
seemed  to  pervade  the  masses — the  still- 


ii8 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ness  was  quite  impressive,  and  the  great 
bulk  of  the  people  seemed  to  enter  most 
deeply  into  the  importance  and  solemnity 
q{  the  occasion.  The  numbers  at  the 
noon-day  prayer-meeting  were  probably 
quite  3,000.  Afterwards  it  was  changed  to 
Bingley  Hall,  where  thousands  more  might 
be  accommodated. 

The  afternoon  Bible-reading  is  also  well 
attended,  and  greatly  enjoyed  by  many. 
The  evening  meetings  have  gone  on,  stead- 
ily increasing,  until  at  length  I  suppose 
some  15,000  must  have  been  congregated 
together.  The  attention  of  these  great 
masses  (assembled  an  hour  before  the 
time)  was  well  sustained  by  singing — and, 
as  a  brother  clergyman  said  to  me,  on  the 
platform,  "  we  never  heard  such  singing  of 
the  good  Old  Hundreth  Psalm  before,  and 
probably  may  never  hear  the  like  again" 
—  as  it  burst  forth  from  the  hearts  and  lips 
of  this  vast  assemblage.  Oh !  it  was  a 
touching  sight,  and  a  telling  sound — such 
as  Birmingham  itself  had  never  witnessed 
before — 15,000  met  together,  night  after 
night,  to  listen  to  the  loving,  sympathizing, 
fervent  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  sinners!  And  the  audience 
felt  it !  The  Holy  Spirit  of  God  seemed 
working  in  our  midst — alike  on  preacher 
and  hearers — and  many  were  the  hearts 
moved. 

At  7:30  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
entered  the  building.  The  service  began 
by  singing,  then  prayer  was  offered,  another 
hymn  or  two  were  sung,  a  portion  of  Holy 
Scripture  read,  another  hymn,  and  then 
followed  the  address.  Numerous  anec- 
dotes were  related,  as  if  not  only  to  illus- 
trate certain  points,  but  also  to  rivet  the 
attention,  and  then,  as  the  preacher's  heart 
and  tongue  seemed  set  on  fire,  all  these 
little  adjuncts  were  submerged  in  the  one 
glowing,  burning  theme — -salvation  for  lost 
sinners — yea,  a  present  and  immediate  sal- 
vation for  every  one  that  believeth  in 
Jesus !  As  I  sat  near  the  preacher,  I 
could  read  the  meaning  of  the  big  drops 
upon  his  brow,  and  how  his  whole  frame 
was  moved,  not  with  selfish  passions,  seek- 
ing personal  admiration,  but  steeped  in 
the  love  and  the  spirit  of  his  Master.  One 
great  object  was  kept  steadily  in  view — 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  sin- 
ners through  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  intense 
longing  that  thousands  might  share  with 
him   the   blessings   and   the  joys  of  this 


GREAT  SALVATION !  Almost  breathless 
stillness  chained  the  audience. 

Numbers  stayed  for  the  after-meetings; 
the  females  in  the  side  galleries,  the  males 
in  the  Scotch  Church  adjoining.  On  the 
first  Monday  evening  Mr.  Moody  himself 
undertook  the  men,  but  finding  the  num- 
bers so  large,  he  sent  up  to  the  platform 
for  assistance.  Undoubtedly  personal 
interviews  are  the  best. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  many 
found  pardon  and  peace  in  Jesus,  and  are 
spreading  their  happy  and  holy  influences 
around.  The  singing  appeared  to  be  im- 
proving night  after  night,  as  the  vast 
masses  gradually  learned  the  tunes  and 
hymns.  Mr.  Sankey's  solos  were  power- 
fully and  sweetly  sung,  and  his  clear  utter- 
ance and  distinct  enunciation  of  syllable 
after  syllable  gave  a  great  effect  and  pathos 
to  the  whole. 

Many  of  my  own  people  are  deeply  inter- 
ested, and  though  our  parish  is  a  suburb 
four  miles  from  Birmingham,  numbers  con- 
tinually attend;  rich  and  poor  seem  thor- 
oughly to  appreciate  and  enjoy  it.  I  have 
also  noticed  clergymen  coming  in  from  all 
parts. 

And  on  Tuesday,  Jan.  26,  the  day  of  the 
convention,  it  was  supposed  that  from  one 
to  two  thousand  ministers  of  various  de- 
nominations attended  the  gathering,  which 
began  that  day  at  ten  o'clock  and  contin- 
ued till  four  p.  M.  Truly  it  was  a  great 
evidence  of  the  divine  blessing,  as  the  del- 
egates from  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin,  and 
other  cities,  told  how  the  work  was  still 
progressing  in  their  respective  cities,  after 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  had  left,  and 
in  some  places  ripening  in  a  most  marvel- 
ous manner.  Indeed,  a  letter  reached  me 
only  yesterday,  telling  me  of  a  brother 
clergyman  in  Dublin,  who  had  a  list  of 
sixty  persons  in  his  congregation,  who  had 
apparently  been  brought  to  Christ  through 
attending  the  meetings  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey. 

Verily  the  Lord  is  blessing  the  evangel- 
istic labors  of  our  dear  brothers  in  Christ 
— Moody  and  Sankey.  I  do  not  pretend 
to  endorse  every  utterance,  or  to  see  with 
them  exactly,  eye  to  eye,  on  every  point. 
But  I  do  see,  and  I  do  gready  rejoice  in 
their  being  raised  up  by  God  to  proclaim, 
so  touchingly,  and  so  successfully,  the  utter 
ruin  of  sinful,  fallen  man,  and  his  recovery 
solely  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  ! 


BIRMINGHAM. 


119 


V. 

THE  ALL-DAY  CONVENTION 

on  Tuesday  was  in  every  way  a  successful 
meeting.  It  was  attended  by  immense 
crowds  throughout  the  day,  and  many  well- 
known  ministers  and  others  were  present 
from  London  and  various  towns  in  the 
provinces,  as  well  as  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
Mr.  Moody  presided  throughout  the  day 
with  his  usual  tact  and  energy. 

The  first  hour  was  fitly  devoted  to  praise, 
and  Mr.  Sankey's  opening  address  was  fol- 
lowed by  powerful  testimony  to  the  value 
of  the  services  by  our  brethren  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland.  All  the  speakers  concurred 
in  saying  that  a  new  song  had  been  put 
into  their  mouths. 

Mr.  Moody  occupied  the  next  hour  with 
an  address  on  "  Work  ;  "  and  his  trenchant 
words,  uttered  in  the  presence  of  so  many 
Christian  workers,  were  potent  with  bless- 
ing, in  stimulating  them  to  do  more  than 
ever  for  the  Master  in  their  widely-separ- 
ated vineyards. 

"  How  to  conduct  Prayer-meetings  "  was 
the  next  topic,  and  a  most  important  one 
it  is.  We  cannot  better  describe  many  of 
the  prayer-meetings  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  attend  in  past  years  than  by  com- 
paring them  to  "wet  blankets."  They 
have  been  characterized  by  so  much  frigid- 
ity and  routine,  that  we  do  not  wonder  the 
attendance  has  mostly  been  small.  Mr. 
Moody  will  have  done  us  British  Chris- 
tians a  great  and  lasting  service  if  he  has 
been  enabled  to  show  how  our  prayer- 
meetings  may  be  made  broad  and  deep 
channels  of  blessing  and  happiness  both  to 
Christians  and  the  careless  world  round 
about  us.     We  look  for  this  result. 

More  important,  perhaps,  was  the  sub- 
ject of  the  next  hour,  "  How  to  reach  the 
masses."  Whoever  will  solve  that  prob- 
lem will  earn  the  unspeakable  gratitude  of 
all  who  sigh  for  the  conversion  of  the  na- 
tions to  Christ.  The  rousing  addresses  of 
Mr.  Chown,  of  Bradford;  Mr.  Newman 
Hall,  of  London;  Mr.  R.  W.  Dale,  of 
Birmingham ;  Mr.  Fletcher,  of  Dublin, 
and  others,  all  men  of  large  experience, 
will,  we  trust,  have  contributed  somewhat 
to  this  desired  end. 

Mr.  Moody  was  as  practical  as  ever  in 
his  answers  to  the  questions  sent  in  ;  and, 
if  those  who  sent  them  will  only  apply 
those  ansv/ers,  we  are  inclined  to  think  the 
hour  devoted  to  the  "  Question  Drawer  " 
will  be  the  most  fruitful  of  any. 


In  the  evening  a  public  service  was  held 
in  the  same  place ;  hundreds  were  unable 
to  gain  admission.  The  Rev.  Newman 
Hall,  of  London,  delivered  an  address, 
earnestly  entreating  all  present  to  forsake 
sin  and  come  to  Christ.  Mr.  Moody,  in 
his  discourse,  urged  on  his  hearers  imme  • 
diate  decision  for  Christ. 

Mr.  Sankey's  singing  of  sacred  songs 
seems  to  make  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
great  congregation. 

At  the  meeting  in  Bingley  Hall  on  Fri- 
day evening,  Mr.  Moody  said :  I  was  very 
dejected  last  night.  Our  meetings  have 
been  so  much  blessed  that  an  effort  was 
put  forth  to  get  Bingley  Hall  for  another 
week.  When  we  got  home  last  evening, 
we  found  a  dispatch  from  a  gentleman, 
saying  we  could  not  have  the  hall.  I  was 
greatly  depressed  all  day.  Now,  however, 
I  have  just  been  told  we  may  yet  obtain 
the  hall  for  another  week.  But  the  com- 
mittee are  wavering  a  little,  as  they  have 
some  fears  the  people  will  not  come  out  to 
the  meetings  next  week.  We  have  good 
committees  wherever  we  have  been  ;  but 
we  have  never  had  a  better  committee 
than  the  Birmingham  one,  and  I  know 
they  will  come  to  a  wise  decision.  But  if 
you  are  anxious  about  your  souls,  you'll 
attend  the  meetings.  We'll  get  several 
gentlemen  to  speak,  and  we  hope  you'll 
rally  round  them  and  the  committee.  We 
have  had  great  blessings  in  other  towns ; 
but  I  think  we  never  met  with  anything 
that  came  up  to  this — to  our  meetings  in 
Birmingham.  I  must  say  I've  never  en- 
joyed preaching  the  gospel  more  than  I 
have  done  since  we  came  to  Birmingham. 
We've  reached  so  many  people.  I  only 
wish  we  could  have  such  a  hall  wherever 
we  go.  I  think  if  v/e  could  only  take  up 
Bingley  Hall,  we  would  carry  it  round  the 
world  with  us,  as  a  place  in  which  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  all  men.  But  I 
would  like  you  Birmingham  people  to  go 
with  us.  Well,  then,  if  we  do  our  best  to 
get  speakers  for  another  week,  will  you  do 
your  best  to  get  hearers  for  the  speakers  "i 
— (Many  cries  of  "Yes,"  "yes.")  Well, 
keep  your  promise.  Why,  almost  any  man 
could  speak  in  this  hall  to  such  a  meeting 
as  this.  The  very  sight  of  you  is  enough 
to  make  a  dumb  dog  bark.  I'll  telegraph 
off  to  Liverpool  and  London  to  send  us  all 
the  help  they  can.  There  will  be  a  ser- 
vice on  Sunday  afternoon,  when  one  of 
your  own  ministers  will  preach.  On  Mon- 
day night  you'll  have  a  thanksgiving  ser- 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


vice.  Come  to  it  to  thank  God  for  hav- 
ing answered  our  prayers  to  bless  these 
meetings.  Has  God  not  answered  your 
prayers  ? — (Cries  of  "  Yes,"  yes.")  Then 
on  Tuesday  we'll  get  some  one  else  to 
speak.  On  Wednesday  there  will  be  the 
usual  services  in  the  churches  and  chapels. 
On  Thursday  night  there  will  be  another 
speaker.  On  Friday  I  will  come  back,  on 
my  way  to  Liverpool,  and  we'll  have  a 
meeting  for  all  the  converts.  Now,  let  all 
rise  who  will  support  the  committee  and 
attend  the  different  .meetings.  [Almost 
the  entire  audience  stood  up  in  response 
to  this  appeal]  Yes  ;  the  committee  are 
quite  satisfied.  We'll  go  on  then.  Pray 
there  may  be  hundreds  and  thousands 
converted  next  week.  If  things  do  not 
always  please  you,  don't  complain;  just 
pray.     Pray  for  a  great  blessing  next  week. 


VI. 

THE   FAREWELL  MEETING. 

Services  were  held  in  Bingley  Hall  last 
•week  as  follows :  On  Sunday  afternoon 
Mr.  Sankey  conducted,  and  Rev.  F.  Cal- 
laway, and  Messrs.  J.  B.  Gould  (Ameri- 
can Consul),  and  W.  H.  Greening  (a  mem- 
ber of  Birmingham  School  Board),  deliv- 
ered addresses.  On  Monday  night  Mr.  R. 
W.  Dale,  M.A.,  and  the  Rev.  Newman 
Hall  (London),  Avere  the  speakers;  on 
Tuesday,  the  Rev-  Newman  Hall ;  on 
Wednesday,  the  Rev.  Donald  Eraser  (the 
veil-known  Presbyterian  minister  of  Lon- 
don) ;  and  last  (Thursday)  evening,  Mr. 
AV.  P.  Lockhart,  Liverpool.  All  these 
meetings  have  been  well  attended,  from 
5,000  to  7,000  persons  having  been  present 
at  each. 

The  Birmingham  Morfiing  N'eivs  gives 
a  long  report  of  two  services  held  there  by 
Mr.  William  Nobbs,  the  converted  police- 
man, and  says  :  "  Plain  and  unaffected, 
disdaining  alike  oddities  of  gesture,  man- 
nerisms of  speech,  or  adventitious,  and  it 
might  be  added  meretricious,  helps  of  all 
kinds,  William  Nobbs,  with  the  same  quiet 
force  with  which  he  might  have  narrated 
his  evidence  in  a  police-court,  conducts 
his  sermon.  He  has  something  important 
to  say,  and  he  says  it  in  a  clear,  straight- 
forward manner.  To  him  the  Judge  is 
always  present.  The  little  Bible  he  holds 
in  his  hand  is  grasped  much  after  the  same 
fashion  as  if  he  had  just  sworn  to  speak 


'the    whole    truth,    the    sole    truth,    and 
nothing  but  the  truth,'  before  a  jury." 

Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  farewell 
service  at  Birmingham  was  held  on  Friday 
evening,  when  the  Bingley  Hall  was  once 
more  crowded  to  its  utmost,  nearly  1,600 
converts'  tickets  being  applied  for.  It 
would  be  manifestly  premature  to  assert 
that  this  number  of  people  have  been  con- 
verted during  the  previous  three  weeks' 
services.  As  Mr.  Moody  said  at  the  Con- 
ference in  London,  on  the  same  day,  they 
did  not  desire  to  reckon  up  the  number  of 
converts,  because  they  could  not  judge  of 
the  reality  of  the  cases.  At  the  same  time 
we  think  it  very  probable  that  many  have 
been  brought  savingly  to  believe  in  Christ 
who  did  not  apply  for  converts'  tickets. 
In  any  case,  the  progress  of  the  movement 
in  Birmingham  has  been  such  as  greatly  to 
encourage  and  cheer  our  American  breth- 
ren and  those  who  helped  them  in  their 
labors ;  and  we  respond  to  Mr.  Moody's 
hope  that  it  may  "  continue  for  a  year." 

Mr.  Moody's  address  to  the  converts 
was,  as  usual,  most  fitting.  Pointing  them 
to  the  true  and  only  source  of  abiding 
strength,  he  warned  them  of  the  dangers 
ahead ;  and  we  hope  his  words  will  dwell 
in  their  hearts  for  many  a  year  to  come. 
His  parting  sentences  were  the  expression 
of  affectionate  regard,  and  it  was  plain, 
from  the  demeanor  of  the  audience,  that 
the  parting  on  their  side  was  a  most  re- 
luctant one. 

Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  farewell  hymn 
with  great  pathos  and  feeling ;  and  on 
leaving  the  hall  both  he  and  Mr.  Moody 
were  beseiged  with  friends  anxious  to  re- 
ceive a  parting  shake  of  the  hand.  They 
proceeded  to  Liverpool  on  Saturday. 

A  Correspondent  writes  concerning 
this  meeting  :  "  We  shall  never  forget  that 
address."  Such  was  the  almost  involun- 
tary exclamation  of  a  well-dressed  mechan- 
ic who  was  standing  by  us  in  the  aisle  of 
Bingley  Hall.  And  truly  the  work  of 
the  Lord  in  this  town  is  such  as  has  never 
before  been  seen  here.  We  were  praying 
and  expecting  great  things,  but  the  bless- 
ing has  exceeded  our  expectations;  never  . 
before  have  the  people  of  every  class  been 
so  moved  and  such  glorious  results  fol- 
lowed. A  week  having  elapsed  since  Mr. 
Moody  left  us,  we  are  enabled  to  speak  in 
a  measure  of  results.  First,  the  life  of  the 
ministers  who  have  taken  part  has  been 
largely  increased,  so  that  the  testimony  of 


BIRMINGHAM. 


121 


many  of  the  hearers  last  Sunday  was, 
"Our  minister  preaches  like  a  new  man;" 
then  the  renewed  life  of  the  churches  is 
already  manifesting  itself  in  the  desire  to 
work  either  in  Sunday-schools  or  tract 
districts ;  and  besides  this  the  people  out- 
side are  more  disposed  to  hear  the  gospel, 
many  coming  into  our  churches  last  Sun- 
day, and  in  more  cases  than  one  when 
notice  was  given  out  after  the  service  that 
inquirers  would  be  spoken  to,  numbers 
varying  from  twenty  to  sixty  passed  into 
the  vestry,  and  many  rejoiced  in  a  new- 
found Saviour.  In  our  own  chapel  we 
have  had  services  nightly,  conducted  by 
our  brother,  Mr.  Nobbs,  of  Gloucester, 
and  such  a  gracious  time  we  never  knew 
before,  on  each  occasion  the  chapel  being 
crowded,  and  many  coming  after  into  the 
vestry  and  going  home  happy  in  Jesus. 
Our  hearts  are  indeed  full  of  praise ; 
should  we  be  silent  the  stones  might  well 
cry  out,  "  But  we  will  bless  the  Lord  from 
this  time  forth,  and  forevermore." 


VII. 

I  VENTURE  to  follow  my  letter  of  a 
fortnight  since  with  a  second  upon  the 
work  of  God  through  Mr.  Moody's  faith- 
ful uplifting  of  Christ,  and  Mr.  Sankey's 
singing  of  the  songs  of  peace.  I  know  of 
no  one  of  the  many  blessed  hymns  which 
has  more  struck  the  heart  and  arrested  at- 
tention than  that  sweet  one  whose  chorus 
begins,  "  Oh,  'twas  love,  'twas  wondrous 
love,  the  love  of  God  to  me."  This  love 
and  its  manifestation  is  the  theme  of  every 
sermon,  and,  of  course,  God  owns  it. 
Ministers  wonder  at  failure,  and  try  to  dis- 
cover the  cause ;  a  week  of  services  such 
as  Birmingham  has  had  for  the  last  fort- 
night, I  think  must  answer  the  question, 
"What  is  the  cause  of  failure.?"  for  we 
have  seen  in  the  crowded  meetings,  in  the 
overwhelming  number  of  anxious  ones,  in 
the  utter  breaking  down  of  strong  men, 
the  secret  of  success.  The  wondrous  love 
of  God  has  been  the  weapon  which  has 
been  used  ;  failure  in  using  this  weapon 
has  been  the  cause  of  failure  in  result. 
Never  has  Birmingham  been  so  mightily 
moved ;  in  the  workshops  Sankey's  songs 
are  sung,  and  men  who  cared  for  none  of 
these  things  are  anxiously  inquiring  after 
the  good  news.  Oh,  may  our  God  carry 
on  the  work  begun  with  mighty  power. 


VIII. 

I  MUST  write  you  a  few  lines,  according 
to  promise,  of  what  the  impressions  made 
on  my  mind  are  by  the  few  days  spent  in 
Birmingham  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  our  friends,  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey. 

The  first  thing  I  will  notice  is  the  evi- 
dence the  work  gives  of  the  power  of  the 
simple  preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ. 
The  singing,  no  doubt,  attracts  many ;  but 
the  power  is  not  in  the  singing,  but  in 
what  is  sung.  It  is  the  old  story  of  a  Sav- 
iour's love  to  a  lost  world  that  thrills  the 
hearts  of  those  who  hear  it  sung^  and  that 
helps  to  swell  the  vast  audience  that  daily, 
and  often  twice  a  day,  and  on  Sundays  four 
times  a  day,  draws  together  vaster  crowds 
than,  perhaps,  were  ever  drawn  together 
consecutively  for  any  political  or  scientific 
object. 

Christ  meets  every  need,  heals  every  dis- 
ease, and  wipes  away  every  tear ;  and  it  is 
the  simple  declaration  of  this  that  gathers 
the  crowds  now,  as  it  did  nineteen  centu- 
ries ago  on  the  mountains  and  plains  of 
Galilee.  The  infidel  is  prone  to  say  that 
Christianity  is  dead,  and  does  not  meet  the 
need  of  the  age.  These  meetings  show 
that  it  is  alive,  and  still  meets  the  need  of 
all  who  come  to  the  healing  stream.  As  in 
the  days  of  our  Lord's  personal  miijistry 
thousands  followed  who  went  away,  and 
were  none  the  better,  so  it  is  now.  But 
when  hundreds  stand  up  at  the  close  of  an 
earnest,  simple  gospel  address,  as  we  have 
witnessed  at  these  meetings,  desiring  to  be 
prayed  for,  and  wishing  to  become  Chris- 
tians, there  is  a  power  from  God  which  it 
must  rejoice  every  true-hearted  child  of 
His  to  witness  or  to  hear  of. 

The  next  thing  I  would  remark  on  is  the 
irectness  of  the  preaching  of  Christ,  the 
lifting  up  of  the  Lord  himself,  that  charac- 
terizes the  ministry.  Dogmatic  teaching 
will  not  serve ;  we  need  a  personal  Christ, 
brought  near  to  the  personal  need  of  the 
sinner.  And  this  is  -a  marked  feature  of 
the  work,  and  one  which  all  engaged  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  will  do  well  to  pon- 
der, and  see  whether  the  secret  of  the  gen 
eral  want  of  power  felt  be  not  that  theories 
of  truth  have  taken  the  place  of  the  living 
truth  itself.  Mr.  Moody  lifts  up  a  living 
Christ,  and  makes  his  hearers  almost  think 
they  hear  His  footfall,  and  listen  to  His 
voice.     Christ  lives  in  his  ministry. 

Firstly.  Christians  are  led  to  realize  the 
fact   that   they    are,   firstly    and    chiefly 


122 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


fellow-disciples  of  the  same  Lord,  having 
in  the  gospel  by  which  they  are  saved, 
and  which  they  preach,  a  common  ground 
of  evangelistic  effort,  which,  while  it  does 
not  call  for  a  compromise  of  the  smallest 
truth,  holds  paramount  the  living  truth  of 
a  common  Saviour  and  a  common  salva- 
tion. This  is  no  small  gain  in  this  day  of 
narrow  sectarianism  and  Pharisaic  exclu- 
siveness.  May  all  be  willing  to  say,  as  our 
brother  Moody  said  on  one  occasion,  "  If 
I  have  one  drop  of  sectarian  blood  in  my 
veins,  I  would  gladly  pour  it  out !" 

Secondly.  An  uncompromising  testimony 
against  a  worldly  Christianity  that  would 
seek  to  take  as  much  of  this  world  as 
v.'ould  not  absolutely  rob  the  soul  of  the 
world  to  come.  Unflinchingly  our  brother 
exposes  the  shame  and  sorrow  of  a  world- 
bordering  life.  He  would  give  his  Lord 
all,  under  the  influence  of  the  grace  of  the 
all  that  has  been  received  ;  and  this  in  a 
manner  that  will  be  very  simple  and  very 
new  to  many  of  his  hearers,  who  may  have 
been  Christians  like  Lot  in  Sodom,  almost, 
perhaps,  ever  since  they  were  converted. 
We  shall  not  readily  forget  the  gold  chain 
that  had  become  so  tarnished  in  a  man's 
pocket,  from  contact  with  some  lead  there, 
hat  he  was  giving  it  back,  thinking  it  a 
fraud.  And  Mr.  Moody  added,  "  The 
gold  ^J'ill  be  tarnished  by  the  lead,  but  the 
lead  will  not  take  up  the  gold.'  The 
world  draws  down  one  that  seeks  its  fellow- 
ship, but  is  not  drawn  up  by  him. 

TJiii-dly.  We  would  notice  the  great  prom- 
inence given  to  working  for  Christ.  He 
remembers  the  work,  "  To  evay  man  his 
work,"  and,  in  the  deep  earnestness  of  his 
own  conviction  of  the  joy  of  working  for 
such  a  Master,  would  he  press  it  on  all, 
and  lead  many  to  find  in  it  a  remedy  for 
coldness  of  heart  and  lifelessness  of  walk, 
and  many  a  life-long  sorrow. 

Mr.  Moody's  addresses  to  Christian 
workers  are  full  of  plain,  common-sense  di- 
rections, wherein  is  no  mystery,  and  which 


commend  themselves  to  the  judgment  of 
all  faithful  men.  There  may  be  a  little 
danger  of  a  forgetfulness  of  tl.at  commun- 
ion with  God  which  can  alor^e  give  work 
a  tone  and  character  which  will  make  it 
what  the  work  of  Him  was  who  spent  His 
days  in  labor,  and  His  nights  in  communion 
with  God.  This  element  is,  perhaps,  a  lit- 
tle wanting,  but  to  most  the  call  is  sorely 
needed,  "Rise,  and  be  doing;"  "Work, 
for  the  night  is  coming."  May  that  little 
song,  "  Nothing  but  leaves,"  linger  long  in 
the  hearts  of  all  who  heard  it  sung,  and 
lead  to  many  sheaves  and  fewer  leaves. 

Fourthly.  I  think  we  see  that  there  is  a 
power  in  the  gospel  to  reach  the  masses. 
Hard  and  careless  many  are,  but  there  are 
soft  moments  in  the  hardest  heart,  and 
anxious  forebodings  not  unfrequently  fill 
the  most  careless  soul.  There  are  hours 
and  days,  weeks  and  months,  of  divine  vis- 
itation, when  many  will  gladly  listen,  if  a 
fitting  person  and  a  fitting  place  be  pro- 
vided. They  know  not  what  they  want; 
they  know  not  where  to  find  it;  but  we, 
who  know  the  sinner's  want,  and  know 
where  it  is  to  be  met,  are  responsible  for 
so  presenting  it,  and  for  so  providing  for 
its  presentation,  that  the  subject  and  the 
place  shall  fall  within  the  reach  of  needy 
and  often  thirsting  souls. 

After  much  had  been  said  about  reach- 
ing the  masses,  Mr.  Moody  wound  the 
question  up  in  these  few  words,  "Go  and 
fetch  them." 

But  may  God  keep  His  people  from 
seeking  to  reach  those  outside  by  leveling 
up  and  leveling  down,  as  if  to  meet  God 
and  the  world  half-way.  Let  the  heights 
and  the  depths  remain,  as  they  ever  will, 
in  fact,  remain,  and  seek  the  power  of  the 
invisible,  almighty  arm  that  lifts  out  of  the 
one,  and  places  the  sinner's  feet  firm  on 
the  other,  in  one  mighty  act,  that  lifts  from 
the  dust  to  the  throne.  There  are  no 
steps  here. 


The  Addresses  and  Lectures  in  this  Editio7i  are  reprinted  from 

Verbatim  Reports. 


DDRESSES  AND 


ECTURES 


OF 


D.  L.  MOODY, 


WITH   A 


NARRATIVE   OF   THE   AWAKENING 


IN 

LIVERPOOL    AND    LONDON. 

(  SUPPLEMENTARY  ISSUE. ) 


NEW   YORK: 

ANSON   D.  F.   RANDOLPH  &   COMPANY, 

770   BROADWAY. 


CONTENTS. 


PART     II. 
THE  WORK   IN    ENGLAND. 
LIVERPOOL: 

I.  LIVERPOOL  MOVED,      . 
IL  OPPOSITION  AND  SCORN, 

III.  THE  PRAYER  OF  THE  EVANGELISTS, 

IV.  GLORIOUS  WORK, 

V.  PHYSICAL  AND  MENTAL  EFFORT, 
VI.  GATHERINGS  IN  THE  CIRCUS, 
VII.  CLOSING  ADDRESSES, 


I 

2 

3 

4 
7 
S 

10 


LONDON 


I.  THE  BUILDINGS, 
II.  OPENING  SERVICES.— SCENES  OUTSIDE, 

III.  THE  FIRST  MONTH  IN  LONDON, 

IV.  LETTER  OF  REV.  R.  W.  DALE, 


II 

12 

22 
24 


PROGRESS  AND  CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND: 

I.  INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS, 
n.  NOON  MEETINGS,  VICTORIA  THEATRE, 

III.  CAMBERWELL-GREEN  HALL,     . 

IV.  CLOSING  MEETING  AT  BOW-ROAD  HALL, 
V.  FAREWELL  AND  THANKSGIVING  MEETING, 

VI.  THE  FAREWELL  MEETING  AT  LONDON, 
VII.  IN  NORTH  WALES, 

VIII.  IN  LIVERPOOL— FAREWELL  TO  GREAT  BRITAIN, 
IX.  THE  DEPARTURE, 

X.  "TWO  AND  TWO," 
XL  IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  RECENT  REVIVALS  IN  EDINBURGH, 

XII.  MEETINGS  AND  ATTENDANCE, 

SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES: 

L  GOD'S  HUMAN  INSTRUMENTS, 
IL  CHRIST  SEEKING  THE  LOST, 

III.  SAVED  OR  LOST, 

IV.  MAN  SEEKING  FOR  GOD, 
V.  THE  CALL  TO  SELF-EXAMINATION, 

VL  THE  NEW  BIRTH, 

VII.  A  SERMON  ON  ONE  WORD, 
Vin.  THE  MASTER'S  PARTING  COMMISSION, 

IX.  POPULAR  PRESENT-DAY  EXCUSES,       . 
X.  ABOUT   HFAVEN, 

XI.  THE  BLOOD, 


37 

40 

43 

44 

45 

48 

lIN, 

51 

57 

58 

EDINBURGH,  6o 

6i 

^2 

67 

72 

77 

82 

88 

93 

100 

305 

. 

112 

• 

117 

NOTE. 
I. 

The  present  Publishers  issued  in  March  last,  a  Narrative  of 
Messrs.  Moody  &  Sankey's  Labors  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  also 
in  Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Birmingham,  England. 

This  supplementary  issue,  besides  containing  in  full  the  article  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Dale,  originally  printed  in  the  Congregational  Quar- 
terly, and  which  is  altogether  the  best  analysis  and  review  of  the  char- 
acter and  labors  of  the  Evangelists  which  has  yet  appeared,  also 
sketches  the  work  in  Liverpool,  and  its  progress  in  London,  until  the 
close  of  the  first  month.  As  the  work  in  London  has  been  conducted 
substantially  in  the  same  manner  as  elsewhere,  it  was  thought  that  in 
the  place  of  a  continued  narration,  the  American  reader  would  prefer 
to  possess  in  a  permanent  form  a  full  report  of  some  of  the  Addresses 
and  Lectures  of  Mr.  Moody.  Those  included  in  this  volume  were 
delivered  in  London  during  the  first  two  weeks  of  March,  and  are  the 
verbatim  reports  of  the  (London)  Christian  World, 

May,  1875. 


NOTE. 
IL 


The  additions  now  made  to  the  issue  of  May  Include  an  account 
of  the  last  days  in  London,  and  the  final  service  at  Liverpool. 

October,  1875. 


THE   WORK   IN    ENGLAND. 


LIVERPOOL. 


The  labors  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
at  Liverpool  began  on  Sunday,  Feb.  7th, 
and  closed  on  the  7  th  of  March.  For  their 
accommodation,  Victoria  Hall,  a  wooden 
structure  of  enormous  strength,  had  been 
erected.  The  internal  dimensions  of  the 
building  are  174  feet  long  by  124  feet  wide, 
with  a  seating  capacity  for  8,000  persons. 
The  wide  passages  rendered  the  capacity 
of  the  building  ample  for  11,000  hearers. 
Inquirers  rooms  adjoined  the  platform.  The 
building  was  constructed  within  forty  days, 
and  cost  4^3,500. 

The  Friday  preceding  the  arrival  was 
observed  as  a  day  of  preparation  on  the 
part  of  many  of  the  churches,  and  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Evangelists  was  on  Sunday 
morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  for  Christian 
workers.  This  was  followed  by  the  after- 
noon and  evening  meetings,  when  the  work 
was  begun,  and  subsequently  carried  on  in 
the  same  manner  as  elsewhere.  It  is  not 
necessary,  therefore,  to  detail  it  here.  The 
following  letters  will  sufficiently  indicate 
its  progress  and  the  state  of  public  feeling 
in  regard  to  it. 


I. 

As  of  the  apostles  of  our  Lord  it  was 
said,  "  These  men,  who  have  turned  the 
world  upside  down,  are  come  hither  also," 
so  of  our  brethren,  Moody  and  Sankey.  It 
is  joyful  to  see  that  the  success  which  at- 
tended their  self-denying  labors  elsewhere, 
promises  to  be  equaled,  if  not  surpassed, 
in  Liverpool. 

All  Liverpool  is  moved  by  them  ;  but  as 
yet,  not  all  with  the  most  desirable  feelings. 
Some  seem  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  embitter- 
ed hostility,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  write 
and*  speak  of  these  servants  of  Christ,  what 
has  not  the  shadow  of  truth.  This  very 
opposition  is,  however,  doing  good.  God 
makes  "  the  wrath  of  men  to  praise  Him." 
I  have  known  of  some  who  entered  Vic- 
toria Hall  bitter  enemies,  and  left  it  attach- 
ed friends  to  the  movement.  Many  flock 
to  the  meetings,  apparently  from  idle  curi- 
osity, and  thousands  under  spiritual  anx- 
iety, whilst  God's  people  rally  round  the 


evangelists  with  an  enthusiasm  and  hearty 
good-will  which  is  cheering  to  observe. 
Mr.  Moody  *eems  to  have  lost  none  of  his 
popularity  in  address.  His  style  is  plain, 
peculiar,  and  strikingly  forcible.  No  same- 
ness of  figure  or  phraseology,  but  new 
thoughts,  new  subjects,  and  new  illustra- 
tions, producing  deeper  impressions,  and 
drawing  greater  crowds  than  the  one  pre- 
ceding it.  There  is  no  other  satisfactory 
reason  which  can  be  assigned  for  his  un- 
precedented popularity,  but  that  the  mighty 
power  of  God  is  with  him. 

The  good  work  in  his  and  his  brother 
Sankey 's  hand  seems  like  the  noble  river 
pouring  its  waters  down  the  mountain, 
reaching  the  valley,  deepened,  widened, 
and  expanding  itself  by  the  numerous 
tributaries  which  join  it,  it  flows  on  with 
irresistible  majesty,  bearing  before  it  every 
barrier  of  man,  and  yet  not  a  ripple  on  its 
placid  surface. 

Perhaps,  of  the  marvelous  work  of  God's 
grace  going  on  in  our  midst,  the  "  after- 
meetings,"  or  "inquiry-room,"  is  the  most 
interesting  and  remarkable.  Here  are 
found  representatives  of  all  ages,  from  the 
very  young,  of  only  ten  years,  to  the  aged. 
All  classes  of  character  are  discovered 
there,  from  the  virtuous  and  moral,  to  the 
regardless  and  abandoned. 

"  Can  such  a  wretch  as  I  be  saved .''"  was 
the  question  asked  me  by  a  seaman  whom 
I  knew  twelve  years  since,  the  son  of  a 
humble,  but  truly  pious  man.  Oft  had  he 
wept  over  his  thoughtless  son,  but  faith 
never  failed  him.  He  still  said  James  will 
be  all  right  yet.  What  was  my  joy  may  be 
conceived,  but  cannot  be  expressed,  when 
the  above  question,  "  Can  such  a  wretch  as 
I  be  saved  .''"  was  asked,  and  a  strong  sea- 
man caught  my  hand. 

"  Yes,  James,  you  can,  and  God  is  this 
night  ansv/ering  the  prayers  of  your  dear 
good  father."  ^ 

"  But,  sir,  I  am  such  a  sinner." 

"  No  matter,  if  every  sin  you  have  com- 
mitted was  as  aggravated  as  all  the  sins  of 
your  life  combined,  and  that  you  commit- 
ted ten  thousand  sins,  for  every  one  of  which 
you  are  guilty,  the  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
God's  Son,  can  cleanse  from  all  sin." 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


"  Oh,  but  I  am  so  ashamed,  I  cannot 
look  up."  Such  was  the  feeling  of  the 
poor  prodigal ;  but  the  loving  Father  was 
not  ashamed  to  take  His  sinful  son  to  His 
heart  and  home. 

"Will  you  give  yourself  to  Christ?" 
"I  will,"  was  his  reply;  "and  I  go  to 
sea  to-morrow,  sailing   for  America  as  I 
never  did  before." 

• 

THE  SCOFFING    INFIDEL   BROUGHT   TO  GOD 
BY  A  HYMN. 

Such  I  have  known  to  be  the  case.  At 
last  Monday  evening's  meeting,  an  intelli- 
gent young  man  informed  me  he  came  into 
that  hall  to  scoff  at  all  he  heard.  "  I  be- 
lieved only  in  God  and  the  devil ;  the  latter 
I  served  well,  and  as  sitting  laughing  at 
the  fools  (as  I  then  thought)  about  me, 
that  beautiful  hymn,  '  Safe  in  the  arms  of 
Jesus,'  was  sung.  A  sudden  thrill  passed 
through  my  whole  frame,  and  then  like  a 
dart  ran  through  my  very  heart.  My  feel- 
ings were  awful,  but  I  listened  to  the  next 
verse,  and  felt  there  is  a  Saviour.  Who  is 
He  ?  Where  is  He.-*  Instantly  I  realized 
the  truth,  Jesus  is  the  Saviour.  I  threw 
myself  into  His  loving  arms,  and  here  I  am 
now,  rejoicing  in  Him." 

"  Blessed  be  God,"  I  said,  "  for  such 
news.  Now,  brother,  go  home  and  tell 
your  friends  what  great  things  God  hath 
done  for  your  soul." 

"  Will  you  pray  ?"  he  said. 

We  went  together  to  the  throne,  and 
then  he  said,  "  God  bless  you.  I  will  now 
live  and  work  for  Jesus." 

The  devil  lays  his  plans,  and  no  doubt 
thinks  they  are  well  arranged,  but  whilst 
he  proposes  certain  events,  God  disposes 
of  them  in  a  very  different  way  than  Satan 
expected.  He  works  by  his  servants,  as 
God  works  by  sanctified  souls. 

THE   DECEIVER   DISAPPOINTED. 

Of  this  I  have  had  an  instance. 

"  I  am  under  a  dreadful  temptation," 
said  a  young  man  to  me. 

"What  is  it.'"  I  asked. 

"  I  was  given  drink  by  a  man  professing 
to  be  a  Christian,  and  whom  I  have  heard 
preaching  the  truth  to  me  and  others,  but 
who  is  opposed  to  Moody  and  Sankey,  and 
I  was  sent  here  by  him  to  give  annoyance. 
Now  I  am  brought  to  Christ,  in  place  of 
dishonoring  Christ  in  this  meeting,  what 
am  I  to  do  to  this  man  .?" 

''  Pray  for  him,"  I  said,  "  and  God  will 


give  him  to  you  as  a  star  for  your  crown. 
Tell  him  plainly  his  state,  and  bring  him 
here  with  you  next  night." 

"  I  knew  a  lady  who  went  to  a  religious 
meeting  an  avowed  infidel,  sent  there  by 
two  sisters-in-law  for  a  similar  purpose  to 
that  which  brought  you  this  night  here. 
She  was  brought  to  Christ,  and  sent  back 
to  them  full  of  Jesus,  and  was  the  means 
of  their  saving  conversion ;  and  now  all 
three  are  rejoicing  in  the  gr^at  salvation 
effected  by  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  for 
every  penitent,  believing  child  of  Adam." 

Truly  the  Lord  is  doing  great  things  for 
us,  "  whereof  we  are  glad."  But  faith  in- 
duces us  to  expect  still  greater  blessings, 
feeling  that  we  have  only  yet  got  the  first 
drops  of  the  showers.  We  look  for  the 
latter  rain,  praying  that  Liverpool  may  be 
made  in  every  home  the  habitation  of 
righteousness,  that  the  Word  of  God  may 
be  in  every  hand,  and  its  precious  truths 
written  on  every  heart,  and  holiness  to 
God  may  characterize  all  its  inhabitants." 


IL 

It  may  emphatically  be  said  of  them, 
"  They  came,  they  spoke,  they  conquered." 
For  twenty  years  I  have  been  more  or  less 
mixed  up  with  the  evangelistic  work  of  the 
town,  but  never  have  I  met  with  more  op- 
position and  scorn  to  any  movement  than 
the  present. 

The  erection  of  the  vast  hall  to  hold 
10,000  persons,  was  looked  on  as  monstrous 
folly.  As  it  was  being  built,  the  talk  was, 
To  what  purpose  is  this  waste  1  But  now 
what  was  called  Moody's  folly,  is  seen  to 
be  God's  wisdom. 

Men  who  wrote,  spoke  against,  and 
laughed  at  it,  now  speak  with  bated 
breath,  come  and  hear,  and  go  with  chang- 
ed thoughts.  "  Nothing  succeeds  like  suc- 
cess," is  an  old  world's  adage,  and  in  this 
is  proved  to  be  true  : — 6,000  at  a  midday 
prayer-meeting;  6,000  at  the  afternoon 
Bible-lecture;*  10,000  at  the  evening  meet- 
ing, with  the  inquiry-rooms  full,  are  some- 
thing that  even  the  Exchange  has  to  admit. 
But  beyond  this,  there  is  the  mighty  work- 
ing power  of  God's  Spirit  working  and  act- 
ing, which  no  tables  can  register  or  num- 
bers record.  "  'Tis  not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  My  Spirit,"  was  the  key-note 
of  the  preparatory  meetings,  which  has 
been  steadily  kept  before  all  the  workers. 

Looked  at  in  a  plain  matter-of-fact  light, 
we  ask,  What  brings  the  people  together  ? 


LIVERPOOL. 


Preaching,  teaching,  singing,  can  be  heard, 
more  artistic  and  eloquent,  almost  any- 
where, we  are  forced  to  admit.  It  is  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  in  making  plain  words 
burn  and  simple  singing  touch. 

The  part  allotted  to  me  in  the  great 
work  has  enabled  me  to  see  and  test  much 
that  is  going  on.  And  this  I  can  say — 
there  is  Avheat ;  there  is  chaff.  The  wheat 
is  sound,  and  will  be  a  glorious,  bountiful 
harvest.  The  chaff  will  be  blown  away. 
Wheat  and  chaff  always  grow  together. 
Never  have  we  been  privileged  to  see  so 
much  real,  genuine  woik — anxious  faces, 
tearful  eyes,  aching  hearts.  The  general 
feeling  is  that  souls  are  being  born  again, 
even  though  they  have  not  courage  to  stand 
up  or  walk  into  the  inquiry-rooms. 

Last  Thursday  night,  Mr.  Moody,  after 
a  telling  address,  went  into  the  inquiry- 
room,  and  his  place  was  occupied  by  a 
layman,  who  wielded  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit  with  amazing  power  right  and  left. 
His  words,  powerful  and  well-chosen,  fell 
with  force,  and  told  on  the  vast  audience 
that  seemed  spellbound-  Many  seemed  to 
be  convicted  of  sin,  and  hurried  into  the 
inquiry-room. 

Liverpool  needs  the  prayers  of  the 
Christians  of  Great  Britain  at  this  crisis. 
Every  arrangement  that  man  can  make  has 
been  made  for  the  well  carrying  on  of  the 
work.  But  what  we  fear  are  unwise  help- 
ers and  the  Sanballats  who  would  come  in 
and  mar  the  work. 


IIL 

"Let  Thy  work  appear  unto  Thy  servants, 
and  Thy  glory  unto  their  children.  Estab- 
lish Thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us ; 
yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  Thou 
it." 

Such  has  been  the  prayer  of  our  beloved 
friends,  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  and 
those  who  have  supported  them  in  their 
work  here  for  the  last  ten  days,  and  the 
Lord  has  heard  and  answered  them  of  a 
truth.  In  some  places  which  our  brethren 
have  visited,  the  fruits  have  begun  to  ap- 
pear almost  as  soon  as  the  seed  was  sown. 
In  others,  and  notably  Dublin,  the  apparent 
results  were  some  time  delayed,  though  the 
blessing  of  many  conversions  to  God  was 
afterwards  abundantly  given.  In  Liver- 
pool, already,  the  issue  of  the  meetings  has 
been  most  encouraging. 

In  the  opening  services,  Mr.  Moody  re- 


marked that  many  people  thought  the  Vic- 
toria Hall  was  a  bad  investment,  but  that, 
if  souls  were  born  there,  perhaps  some  of 
them  would  like  to  have  a  little  stock  in  it. 

On  the  evening  of  Monday  week,  the 
first  opportunity  was  given  for  anxious  in- 
quirers to  be  spoken  with.  Mr.  Moody 
had  just  delivered  a  most  heart-searching 
address,  in  which  he  had  shown  man's  un- 
utterably lost  condition  without  Christ,  and 
many  refuges  of  lies  had  been  laid  bare. 
But  he  did  not  leave  the  sinner  there.  With 
all  simplicity  and  affectionate  earnestness, 
he  held  up  a  crucified  Saviour,  and  once 
again  it  was  shown  that  the  good,  old' 
fashioned  gospel — stripped  of  all  rhetorical 
dead-weights  and  conventionalisms  that 
often  prove  hindrances  instead  of  helps — 
had  not  lost  its  power.  Mr.  Moody's 
earnest  invitation  to  those  who  were  anx- 
ious about  their  salvation,  to  stand  up,  and 
afterwards  to  meet  him  in  the  inquiry-room, 
was  responded  to  by  hundreds,  who  were 
not  deterred  from  showing  their  anxiety  by 
the  curious  gaze  of  many  thousand  specta- 
tors. 

Many  striking  instances  of  conversion'' 
have  occurred,  and  other  cases  have  come 
under  my  own  observation  in  which  back- 
sliders have  been  led  to  return  to  their 
first  love.  One  day  at  the  noon  prayer- 
meeting  Mr.  Moody  told  of  an  interesting 
case  of  conversion  he  had  met  the  night 
before.  A  young,  stalwart  man,  who  was 
to  sail  for  America  next  day,  had  come  in- 
to the  meeting.  He  had  been  pricked  to 
the  heart  by  Mr.  Moody's  pointed  appeals, 
and  found  his  way  to  the  inquiry-room,  and 
here,  as  he  believed,  to  lay  his  hitherto 
unforgiven  sins  on  Jesus.  Later  in  the  even-- 
ing  he  called  on  Mr.  Moody  at  his  hotel^ 
and  received  a  letterof  introduction  to  any 
of  the  Christian  friends  in  America  he  might 
meet.  He  was  accompanied  to  the  hotel 
by  his  brother,  who  had  come  from  the 
country  with  him  to  see  him  sail,  and  who 
seemed  overjoyed  to  think  that  one  so 
nearly  related  to  him  was  taking  Christ 
with  him  ere  he  left  his  native  shores. 

The  experience  of  Monday  evening  has 
been  repeated  every  evening  since,  more 
or  less,  and  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but 
great  numbers  have  been  led  to  see  and 
feel  their  lost  condition,  and  to  cast  their 
all  on  Christ,  who  have  not  openly  avowed 
it.  We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  curi^ 
osity  has  mostly  passed  away,  yet  it  is  no 
easy  task  sometimes  to  induce  the  vast 
audiences  who  throng  into-  every  corner 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


of  Victoria  Hall,  to  leave,  after  the  bene- 
diction has  been  twice  pronounced. 

At  the  evening  meetings  the  hall  is  al- 
ways crowded  with  something  like  10,000 
people,  and  if  it  were  not  that  the  com- 
mittee kept  a  great  part  of  the  passages 
clear  to  allow  of  access  to  the  inquiry-room, 
every  inch  of  standing  ground  would  be 
occupied.  The  attendance  at  the  noon 
prayer-meetings  averages  4,000  to  5,000, 
the  audience,  of  course,  not  being  so  mixed 
as  those  in  the  evening.  One  gratifying 
circumstance,  however,  in  connection  with 
the  noon  meeting  should  be  noted,  and 
that  is,  the  presence  of  so  many  of  the 
Liverpool  merchants  and  business  men.  I 
have  heard  it  stated  that  between  twelve 
and  one,  when  the  noon  prayer-meeting  is 
held,  'Change  is  half  deserted,  and  it  has 
'been  remarked  that  no  other  source  of  at- 
traction has  ever  drawn  so  many  of  these 
busy  men  away  from  their  money-making 
for  an  hour  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  May 
they  carry  away  some  truth  that  will  cling 
to  them  when  they  are  tempted  to  forget 
God  in  their  haste  to  get  rich  !  The  re- 
quests  for  special  prayer  have  been  very 
numerous  and  so  varied  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  characterize  them.  The 
notices  of  the  secular  press,  while  not  ex- 
pressing any  hearty  sympathy  with  the 
movement,  have  been  very  fair  and  honest, 
as  a  rule,  considered  as  simple  reports  of 
the  proceedings. 

A  very  happy  feature  of  the  work  here, 
as  elsewhere,  is  the  sympathetic  co-opera- 
tion of  many  clergymen  and  ministers  of 
various  denominations.  They  appear  on 
the  platform  and  take  part  in  the  services, 
as  well  as  in  the  personal  dealing  with  the 
anxious.  This  is  matter  for  thankssiivinsr, 
though  some  correspondents  of  the  Liver- 
pool papers  assert  that  the  very  presence 
of  the  evangelists  here,  and  the  admitted 
need  there  is  for  their  labor,  is  a  slur  upon 
their  own  zeal  and  fitness  for  the  work  of 
evangelizing  the  destitute  and  depraved 
masses  of  the  town. 

I  am  not  seeking  to  defend  any  apathy 
that  may  have  been  shown  by  ministers  or 
Christians  generally  with  respect  to  the 
moral  condition  of  this  town,  which  by 
universal  consent  is  most  deplorable.  But 
all  must  agree  that,  after  the  ministers  and 
their  flocks  have  done  their  utmost,  there 
is  a  crying  need  here  for  special  effort. 
And  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  worst 
are  being,  to  some  extent,  reached  by  the 
present  movement.    At  one  of  the  noon 


meetings,  important  testimony  on  this  point 
was  given  by  Dr.  Owles,  of  the  Liverpool 
Medical  Mission.  He  stated  that  he  had 
met  with  some  few  among  the  very  poor  of 
this  town  who  had  already  been  present  at 
the  meetings,  and  he  had  heard  of  many 
others  who  were  desirous  to  come.  In  the  • 
inquiry-room  on  Monday  night  there 
was  one  little  fact  which  was  most  encourag- 
ing to  some  of  those  v.-ho  were  laboring  in 
the  lower  part  of  Liverpool.  Among  the  first 
batch  of  those  who  were  present,  number- 
ing somewhere  about  twenty-five,  there 
were  three  well-known  faces  from  the  dis- 
trict of  Scotland  road,  and  each  of  them  had 
brought  another  friend  with  him.  During 
the  past  two  evenings  they  had  conversed 
with  several  souls.  In  some  the  impression 
had  evidently  been  very  slight,  but  in  others 
he  might  say,  with  equal  certainty,  it  had 
been  very  deep ;  and  in  one  or  two  in- 
stances within  his  own  personal  knowledge 
souls  had  returned  on  the  second  evening 
to  state  that  they  were  truly  saved.  He 
might  say,  too,  that,  on  speaking  further 
with  them,  the  impression  of  one  or  more 
intelligent  Christians  was,  that  their  cases 
were  real,  that  they  had  truly  distinguished 
between  the  touch  of  the  crowd  and  the 
touch  of  faith,  and  that  virtue  had  gone  out 
from  the  Great  Physician  which  had  healed 
their  souls.  The  inquiry-room,  however, 
was  no  necessary  test  of  what  the  real  work 
was.  Many  who  were  naturally  somewhat 
forward  were  ready  to  go  there  under  very 
slight  impression  ;  whilst  others  who  were 
more  reserved,  and  in  whose  souls  the 
work  had  gone  far  deeper,  would  go  home, 
and  would  not  dare  to  speak  even  to  their 
nearest  friends.  He  trusted,  however,  that 
as  the  work  went  on,  very  many  would 
come  with  the  cry,  not  only  in  their 
hearts,  but  within  their  lives,  "  What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  .'*" 


IV. 

"  This  is  glorious  work ;  this  is  reality" 
Such  was  the  remark  that  reached  my  ears 
one  evening  last  week  as  I  was  passing 
through  the  inquiry- room  adjoining  Vic- 
toria Hall.  There,  I  thought,  is  the  whole 
movement  in  a  nut-shell.  The  more  I  see 
it,  and  the  more  I  ponder  over  it,  I  am  im- 
pressed with  the  feeling  of  reality  that  per- 
vades this  work  as  it  is  now  going  on  in 
Liverpool.  Endless  are  the  surmises,  and 
very  ludicrous  some  of  the  guesses,  as  to 
the  secret  of  its  wonderful  success.     The 


LIVERPOOL. 


Liverpool  critics  (and  their  name  is  legion) 
are  fairly  puzzled.  They  cannot  dispute 
facts,  though  they  are  not  always  careful 
to  ascertain  what  the  facts  really  are,  and 
seem  to  have  a  wonderful  aptitude  at  twist- 
ing them.  But  there  is  much  that  they 
cannot  help  seeing  and  knowing,  and  they 
are  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  two  simple, 
common  laymen  have  been  able  to  do  what 
hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  highly  culti- 
vated and  refined  theologians  have  not  got 
within  sight  of.  I  sum  it  all  up  in  the  one 
word  reality. 

Mr.  Moody  has  often  been  described, 
and  criticised,  and  dissected,  both  by 
friends  and  foes,  but  I  think  sufficient  stress 
has  been  laid  on  his  predominating  charac- 
teristic of  reality.  His  gospel  is  the  same 
as  one  hears  in  most  places;  yet  it  is  dif- 
ferent, because  it  is  so  real.  Never  mind 
if  his  weapons  are  not  of  the  most  orthodox 
kind;  they  accomplish  the  desired  object 
all  the  more,  perhaps,  just  as  the  youthful 
David's  sling  and  stone  went  straight  to 
the  mark.  To  follow  up  the  parallel,  Mr. 
Moody  is  not  content  with  sending  his 
message  straight  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, 
but  he  follows  it  up,  as  David  did,  when 
he  completed  his  victory  over  the  Philis- 
tine. As  he  said  the  other  day,  he  pulls  up 
his  net  anon  to  see  what  he  has  caught. 
This  is  the  highest  test  of  his  reality,  and 
the  one  that  has  evoked  the  greatest  criti- 
cism. But  it  is  the  one  that  has  all  along 
contributed  most  to  the  success  of  the 
movement. 

During  the  past  week  the  slain  of  the 
Lord  have  been  many.  Every  evening  has 
seen  fresh  groups  scattered  over' the  in- 
quiry-room, with  tearful  eyes  and  troubled 
hearts,  drinking  in  the  affectionate  words 
of  invitation,  or  the  plain  words  of  appeal, 
addressed  to  them  by  Mr.  Moody  and  his 
co-workers.  People  who  know  least  about 
it  may  affect  to  shrug  the  shoulder  at  the 
inquiry-room,  but  one  or  two  visits  there 
would  do  them  good,  and  probably  con- 
vince them  how  indispensable  it  is  to  suc- 
cess in  this  work.  I  hope  one  result  of 
this  av/akening  in  our  land  will  be  that 
every  minister  of  the  gospel  and  every  one 
who  seeks  to  speak  to  his  fellow-men  about 
salvation,  will  not  only  cast  out  the  net, 
but  will  draw  it  up  every  time. 

The  leading  attraction  of  the  meetings 
last  week  was  Mr.  Moody's  Bible  lectures. 
On  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  he  gave  two 
lectures  on  "  The  Blood,"  and  on  Thurs- 
day and  Friday  two  lectures  on  "  Heaven." 


These  were  delivered  each  day  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  again  in  the 
evening,  so  as  to  enable  a  large  number  ot 
persons  to  attend  them.  On  each  occasion 
the  hall  was  crowded  ;  so  that  on  a  moder- 
ate computation,  the  seed  of  the  word  of 
God  relating  to  these  two  most  important 
subjects  was  sown  in  the  hearts  of  some 
60,000  or  70,000  persons,  many  of  them 
from  a  long  distance.  In  the  words  of  the 
hymn  we  may  ask,  "  What  shall  the  harvest 
be  .?  "     The  day  shall  reveal  it. 

The  lectures  are  a  treat  of  no  ordinary 
kind.  As  expository  discourses  they  are 
most  valuable,  and  reveal,  to  some  extent, 
how  Mr.  Moody  has  got,  to  use  a  common 
phrase,  "the  Bible  at  his  finger  ends." 
Probably  few  of  his  thousands  of  hearers 
ever  before  had  such  a  correct  estimate  of 
the  value  of  the  doctrine  of  "  the  blood,"  or, 
as  Mr.  Moody  calls  it,  "  the  scarlet  thread  " 
that  runs  through  the  Scriptures,  like  the 
thread  that  holds  together  a  string  of  pre- 
cious pearls.  Mr.  Moody  traced  the  doc- 
trine, from  the  slaying  of  the  beasts  in 
Eden,  with  whose  skins  God  clothed  our 
first  parents,  recorded  in  Genesis,  down  to 
the  Revelation  where  the  redeemed  sing 
the  song  of  Moses,  and  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain.  The  lectures  on  "  Heaven  "  must 
have  left  the  impressions  and  ideas  of  that 
"  prepared  place  for  a  prepared  people," 
clearer  to  the  minds  and  dearer  to  the 
hearts  of  the  listeners  than  ever. 

But  these  lectures  have  a  wonderful 
hortatory  as  well  as  expository  value.  As 
Mr.  Moody  held  up  the  sacrifice  offered  on 
the  cross,  "once  for  all,"  and  dwelt  on  the 
exceeding  preciousness  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  as  a  sufficient  atonement  for  sin, 
many  a  head  was  bowed,  and  many  a  heart 
melted,  that  had  hitherto  been  steeled 
against  the  story  of  a  Saviour's  love.  Again, 
when  Mr.  Moody,  speaking  on  "  Heaven," 
showed  the  utter  worthlessness  of  earthly 
treasure  when  compared  to  the  "  prize  ' 
for  which  Paul  looked  and  longed,  the  ar- 
row of  conviction  went  home  to  many  a 
heart.  His  remarks  on  the  necessity  for 
many  Christians  throwing  out  a  good  deal 
of  "  ballast "  before  they  could  rise  to  a 
higher  spiritual  life,  were,  I  think,  very 
timely,  and  capable  of  application  in  these 
money-getting  and  money-worshipping 
days. 

It  is  a  gratifying  fact  that  the  attendance 
at  the  evening  meetings  chiefly  continues 
to  increase.  During  the  first  week  of  the 
services  the  Victoria  Hall  was  almost  suffi- 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


cient  to  hold  the  crowds  of  eager  listeners ; 
at  any  rate,  the  overflow  was  not  considered 
CO  great  as  to  necessitate  the  opening  of 
other  places.  Last  week,  however,  over- 
flow meetings  were  held,  sometimes  in  two 
and  sometimes  in  three  different  places. 

One  evening,  I  went  to  St.  John's  Church, 
where  I  found  W.  H.  M.  Aitken  and  the 
Vicar  of  the  church  conducting  the  service 
after  the  model  of  the  services  in  Victoria 
Hall.  The  body  of  the  church  was  filled 
partly  with  the  overflow  from  the  hall,  and 
partly  with  those  who  had  been  induced 
to  enter  by  personal  solicitation,  and  by 
hearing  a  group  of  young  men  singing 
hymns  in  the  churchyard.  It  was  a  motley 
company,  and  a  great  majority  consisted  of 
those  who,  from  their  dress  and  appearance, 
do  not  often  find  their  way  to  God's  house. 
There  were  numbers  of  men  such  as  one 
sees  lounging  at  street  corners  and  about 
public-houses,  many  young  girls  in  work- 
ing attire  and  without  bonnets,  and  a  num- 
ber of  rough,  neglected-looking  street 
Arabs.  Their  behavior,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  was  most  orderly  and  atten- 
tive. A  good  sprinkling  remained  at  the 
close  to  be  conversed  with,  and  many  of 
them  were  enabled  to  lay  their  sins  on  Je- 
sus, or,  as  the  speaker  said,  to  accept  the 
fact  that  God  had  laid  them  there  nearly 
nineteen  hundred  years  ago. 

It  is  interesting  and  refreshing  to  notice 
how  all  grades  of  society  and  all  ages  are 
represented  among  the  anxious  who  throng 
the  inquiry-room  at  the  close  of  Mr. 
Moody's  addresses.  From  the  richly- 
dressed  lady  to  the  poor  waif  of  the  street, 
with  scarce  enough  of  clothing  to  cover  his 
nakedness  ;  from  the  boy  and  girl  of  eight 
or  ten  years,  to  the  horny-handed,  grey- 
headed working-man,  with  all  the  interven- 
ing stages  of  life,  there  you  find  all,  bur- 
dened with  the  same  sense  of  sin,  and  af- 
terwards rejoicing  in  the  same  Saviour. 
Truly,  we  are  all  one  in  Christ. 

The  noon  prayer-meetings  continue  to 
be  well  attended,  and  are  chiefly  remarka- 
ble for  the  accumulated  testimony  that  is 
given  to  the  good  effect  of  this  movement 
in  outlying  towns  and  country  districts. 
The  meetings  have  been  attended  during 
the  past  week  by  large  numbers  of  Welsh 
ministers  and  others,  and  with  their  pro- 
verbial fire  and  energy,  these  warm-hearted 
laborers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard,  among 
their  native  hills,  will  become  retailers 
of  the  quickening  and  refreshing  influence 
they  have  received  in  Li^  erpool.     At  one 


of  the  noon  meetings  some  most  interesting 
accounts  were  given  of  good  work  among 
the  sailors  here,  who  had  attended  the 
Victoria  Hall  services. 

The  special  work  among  the  young  men, 
which  has  been  carried  on  in  other  towns 
where  the  evangelists  have  been,  is  being 
organized  here  also.  On  Saturday  evenin:^ 
there  was  a  meeting  for  young  men,  chiefly 
to  make  arrangements,  at  which  Mr.  Moody 
was  present.  In  the  meantime  the  meet- 
ings will  be  held  in  Newsome's  Circus,  and 
shortly  it  is  expected  that  the  Concert-room 
of  St.  George's  Hall  will  be  available. 

Sunday  last  was  another  day  of  much 
sowing  of  the  precious  seed  of  the  word, 
and  reaping  too.  The  early  meeting  for 
"  workers  "  was  some  8,000  strong.  Mr. 
Moody's  address  was  a  continuation  of 
those  he  had  delivered  on  the  two  previous 
Sunday  mornings — "  To  every  man  his 
work."  His  remarks  were  chiefly  directed 
to  work  in  the  Sunday-school,  in  which 
he  said  the  whole  Church  of  God 
could  be  engaged.  He  spoke  of  the  good 
that  even  little  children  could  do.  He 
would  a  good  deal  rather  have  a  little  miss 
some  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old  to  tell 
the  other  children  of  the  love  of  Jesus  than 
an  old  man  with  no  fire  in  his  heart.  He 
enforced  his  appeals  by  some  striking  and 
appropriate  incidents,  of  which  he  seems 
to  have  an  inexhaustible  store.  He  prayed 
that  all  those  present  "  might  have  a  pas- 
sion for  souls." 

This  service  was  not  quite  so  largely  at- 
tended as  on  the  preceding  Sunday,  but  by 
the  time  Mr.  Moody's  address  commenced, 
the  hall  was  quite  full.  It  was  a  somewhat 
saddening  thought  that  so  many  thousands 
of  people  in  this  town,  who  most  of  them 
have  not  the  slender  excuse  of  want  of 
respectable  clothing,  should  admittedly 
and  regularly  absent  themselves  from  the 
public  worship  of  God.  Yet  it  was 
pleasant  to  think  that  they  were  so  far 
convinced  of  the  importance  of  spiritual 
things  as  to  come  to  Victoria  Hall  to  hear 
more  about  them.  Mr.  Moody  simply,  and 
in  that  wonderful  realistic  way  in  which  he 
describes  things,  told  the  story  of  Christ's 
agony,  betrayal,  shameful  maltreatment, 
trial,  and  crucifixion.  The  heart  must 
have  been  hard  indeed  that  could  remain 
unmoved,  and  the  whole  congregation 
seemed  deeply  to  feel  the  surpassing  in- 
terest of  the  story  recited  by  Mr.  Moody. 
Numbers  rose  at  his  invitation,  indicating 
their  desire  to  become  Christians,  and  the 


LIVERPOOL. 


inquiry-room  was  filled  at  the  close  with 
those  whose  hearts  had  been  touched,  and 
who  desired  a  sense  of  God's  pardoning 
love,  through  the  infinite  merits  of  the 
Crucified  One. 

The  afternoon  meeting  for  women  was  a 
wonderful  sight.  The  hall  was  packed  to 
excess,  and  many  hundreds  failing  to  gain 
entrance,  an  overflow  meeting  was  held  in 
Newsome's  Circus.  Mr.  Sankey  sang  the 
solo,  "  Mary  Magdalene,"  amidst  the  most 
profound  silence,  and  the  pathetic  and 
beautiful  words  of  the  hymn  brought  tears 
to  many  an  eye.  Mr.  Moody  spoke  on 
"  What  Christ  is  to  us,"  a  most  pregnant 
and  powerful  address  on  a  theme  that  he 
said  it  would  take  all  eternity  to  exhaust. 
As  at  other  times,  Mr.  Moody  asked  those 
who  wished  to  be  prayed  for  to  rise  up, 
and  hundreds  upon  hundreds  responded 
in  all  parts  of  the  house.  A  more  touching 
or  cheering  sight  I  never  witnessed.  Mr. 
Sankey  sang,  "  Almost  persuaded,"  and 
Mr.  Moody  said  that  there  were  so  many 
anxious,  it  would  be  impossible  to  speak 
with  them  ;  so  he  asked  them  to  go  home, 
and  at  five  o'clock  to  take  God's  Word, 
and  kneel  down  pleading  his  promise,  and 
commit  themselves  to  Him.  All  the 
Christians  in  the  hall  would  be  praying  for 
them  at  that  hour.  He  prayed  that  they 
might  be  altogether  persuaded. 

Mr.  Moody  repeated  his  afternoon  ad- 
dress to  an  immense  audience  of  men  in 
the  evening,  and  in  the  course  of  it  made 
strong  reference  to  the  great  curse  of 
Liverpool,  the  drink  traffic,  amid  the  ap- 
proval of  the  vast  congregation.  He  asked 
them  to  show  their  detestation  of  it  by 
becoming  abstainers.  There  were  hun- 
dreds of  inquirers  at  the  close.  A  deeply 
interesting  meeting  of  about  7,000  young 
men  was  held  in  the  Circus  from  nine  to  ten 
o'clock,  conducted  by  Mr.  Henry  Drum- 
mond.  These  meetings  are  to  be  continued 
every  night. 


V. 

Work  in  connection  with  these  special 
services,  if  we  avail  ourselves  of  ours 
privileges,  means  much  toil.  Mr.  Moody 
has  scored  the  word  "  duty  "  out  of  our 
vocabulary,  and  inserted  "  glorious  privi- 
lege." Those  who  take  up  this  work,  and 
carry  it  out  faithfully,  find  that  each 
meeting,  especially  in  the  evenings,  in- 
volves some  four  hours'  physical  and 
mental   effort,  making   due  arrangements 


for  the  comfort  of  ten  thousand  visitors, 
looking  up  and  after  the  numerous  cases 
of  special  inquirers.  I  can  liken  it  to 
nothing  so  much  as  work  in  the  trenches 
before  a  besieged  city,  in  which  every 
nerve  and  energy,  spiritual  and  physical, 
has  promptly  and  wisely  to  be  put  forth — 
parties  sallying  out,  either  singly  or  in 
company,  to  trace  out  and  capture  the 
anxious  and  inquiring. 

Our  great  hinderers  in  this  are  the  Chris- 
tian lookers-on  and  curiously  inclined  ; 
they  feel  an  interest  in  the  fight  with  the 
powers  of  darkness,  but,  from  various 
motives,  do  not  help.  Such  will  persist  in 
filling  up  the  benches,  to  the  exclusion  of 
hundredswho  ought  to  be  brought  in.  There 
is  a  large  amount  of  selfishness  in  the 
Church,  very  apparent  in  our  meetings. 
We  do  not  know  how  to  deal  with  it, 
taking  up,  as  it  does,  the  best  seals,  and 
monopolizing  much  room.  Mr.  Moody 
and  others  have  spoken  from  the  platform 
about  it,  and  tried  to  stir  up  the  conscience, 
but  in  vain.  They  are  almost  worse  than 
Meroz  ;  for  they  not  only  do  not  help,  but 
they  hinder. 

The  house-to-house  visitors  report  that 
the  very  poor,  those  to  whom  every  hour 
is  daily  bread,  say  that  it  is  no  use  going 
to  the  hall ;  they  cannot  get  in  ;  and  they 
cannot  afford  to  leave  work  at  five  o'clock, 
and  wait  two  or  three  hours  for  the  meet- 
ing, Avhich  those  who  have  no  employment 
do,  to  get  the  seats  with  backs.  Christians 
had  much  better  be  holding  prayer-meet- 
ings elsewhere,  for  the  Spirit's  power  on 
the  word,  than  keeping  out  those  who 
know  not  the  truth,  but  would  come  to 
hear  it. 

Those  who  know  Liverpool  best,  all  say 
that  those  who  can  face  a  Liverpool 
audience,  and  pass  the  crucial  test  of  its 
critical  investigation,  must  have  something 
more  than  ordinary  in  them.  This  is  now 
being  done,  with  the  usual  accompaniment 
of  respectable  and  rough  rowdyism  doing 
all  it  can  to  blacken  and  wrest  plain-spoken 
truth. 

The  old  slave-driving  element  is  largely 
developed  here,  and  is  not  confined  to  the 
back  slums  and  dark  corners  of  the  town. 
Many  a  tale  of  shame  might  be  related  of 
how  Liverpool  has  treated  honorable  grey 
heads,  that  have  come  on  missions  of  phil- 
anthrophy  and  love ;  but  we  forbear.  The 
Master  went  that  path,  so  all  His  followers 
must.  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  Mas- 
ter here,  as  in  days  of  old. 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


VI. 

The  nightly  gatherings  in  the  Circus, 
from  nine  to  ten,  have  been  well  sustained 
during  the  past  week,  and  have  been 
fraught  with  interest.  Mr.  Henry  Drum- 
mond  invariably  presides,  and  conducts 
the  proceedings  with  much  tact  and  dis- 
cretion. He  throws  aside  all  formalism, 
and  endeavors  to  give  the  meeting  as  much 
of  a  family  and  social  aspect  as  possible,  in 
order  to  remove  the  natural  diffidence  that 
most  young  men  feel  in  making  any  public 
statement  about  their  conversion,  which 
may  be  very  recent,  or  their  spiritual 
experience,  which  may  not  have  been  very 
deep  or  well  defined.  While  the  meetings 
are  free  to  all  who  may  feel  disposed  to 
speak,  any  attempt  to  raise  controversy  on 
disputed  points  of  doctrine  is  vigorously 
repressed.  Such  a  thing,  however,  seldom 
occurs,  and  would  obviously  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  the  object  of  these  meetings, 
which  is  to  encourage  the  young  converts 
to  make  public  confession  of  their  faith  in 
Christ,  in  the  hope  that  the  simple  story 
of  their  conversion  may  lead  others  to  the 
Saviour.  Sometimes  a  few  broken  sen- 
tences from  a  young  convert,  telling  how  he 
lost  his  burden  at  the  cross,  have  more  ef- 
fect on  the  hearers  than  could  be  gained 
by  an  hour's  ordinary  preaching.  An  ounce 
of  testimony,  modestly  and  truthfully  given, 
is  often  worth  more  than  a  ton  of  theologi- 
cal disquisition. 

Hitherto  these  meetings  have  been  such 
as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  a  solid  and 
lasting  work  of  grace  has  begun  among  the 
young  men  of  Liverpool.  In  It^^  if  any, 
of  our  large  towns  are  the  temptations  to 
evil  more  numerous  and  more  seductive. 

The  larger  and  more  public  meetings  in 
Victoria  Hall  have  been  continued  during 
the  past  week  without  any  diminution  in 
the  attendance  (except  at  one  or  two  of 
the  noon  meetings,  when  the  weather  has 
been  very  severe),  or  the  apparent  results. 

Many  interesting  statements  have  been 
made  at  the  noon  prayer-meetings  with  re- 
gard to  the  progress  of  the  work  in  places 
which  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  have 
already  visited,  and  in  remote  country  dis- 
tricts which  this  wave  of  revived  spiritual 
life  has  reached. 

At  the  same  meeting  a  letter  was  read 
giving  some  cheering  intelligence  of  a 
movement  among  the  engine-drivers  and 
stokers  on  the  North-Western  Railway. 

At  the  Wednesday  noon  meeting,  a  min- 


ister stated  that  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
previous  Sunday's  service,  a  barman  came 
to  him  and  told  him  that  he  feared  he 
could  not  go  on  with  his  occupation  and 
serve  God.  Moreover,  he  said  that  he  had 
his  father  dependent  upon  him.  He  told 
the  man  to  trust  in  God,  and  recited  cases 
in  which  God  had  not  forsaken  those  who 
had  so  trusted  in  Him.  After  a  io^w  min- 
utes' struggle  the  young  man  was  able  to 
throw  himself  entirely  on  the  Lord,  and  he 
thought  that  he  had  left  the  church  a  be- 
liever in  Christ. 

At  the  meeting  on  Thursday  at  noon, 
another  minister  mentioned  a  circumstance 
that  came  to  his  knowledge,  showing  that 
whole  families  had  been  recently  led  to 
the  Lord.  About  ten  or  twelve  days  ago 
a  young  lady  in  the  hall  decided  for  Christ, 
and  since  then  her  only  brother  had  given 
himself  to  the  Lord,  two  sisters  had  become 
Christians,  and  five  brothers-in-law,  as  well 
as  others  in  the  same  circle,  making  fifteen 
persons  who  were  now  rejoicing  in  Him. 

Another  speaker  said  that  they  were 
aware  that  a  house-to-house  visitation  was 
going  on  in  connection  with  the  services. 
They  had  heard  some  complaints  of  visitors 
only  putting  a  tract  into  the  letter-boxes, 
and  not  making  any  efforts  to  speak  with 
the  people  in  the  houses.  He  hoped  such 
persons  would  remember  that  that  was  not 
the  primary  object  of  their  work,  but  it 
was  desired  that  they  should  give  some 
practical  and  verbal  testimony  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  knew  of  an  instance  in 
which  a  visitor  called  at  the  residence  of 
a  wealthy  lady  in  town.  Contrary  to  her 
expectation,  the  visitor  was  admitted,  and 
the  lady  said  that  she  thought  the  visits 
were  to  be  limited  to  the  poor.  Before  the 
visitor  left,  however,  the  lady  was  in  tears 
about  the  state  of  her  soul.  Another  case 
occurred  in  a  poor  district,  the  visitor  be- 
ing received  by  a  woman  who  asked  her 
to  go  in  to  see  her  husband,  who  would 
not  go  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  But, 
notwithstanding  the  invitation,  the  visitor 
went  away  without  saying  a  word  to  the 
poor  man.  To  those  who  are  willing  to 
undertake  visitation,  districts  would  be 
readily  assigned. 

Mr.  Sankey  said  that  when  they  were  in 
Glasgow  they  heard  a  great  deal  about 
their  not  reaching  the  lapsed  masses.  He 
did  not  hear  much  of  similar  complaints  in 
Liverpool.  That,  however,  was  not  their 
chief  object.  It  seemed  to  him  to  be  the 
duty  of  the  Church  to  go  after  the  masses. 


LIVERPOOL. 


He  hoped  those  Christian  friends  who  had 
got  themselves  fired  up  at  the  meetings, 
would  make  it  their  life-work  to  reach 
those  people  who  were  perishing  in  the 
lower  places  of  the  town.  It  would  be 
better  for  such  people  to  go  into  it  than 
f  that  Mr.  Moody  should  do  so,  who,  how- 
ever, often  did  work  of  that  kind  in  his 
own  city. 

On  Friday  some  valuable  testimony  was 
given  as  to  the  tangible  effects  of  the  work 
in  Liverpool.  It  was  stated  that  one  class 
reached  had  been  those  who,  though  relig- 
iously trained,  had,  during  these  special 
meetings,  seen  a  new  meaning  and  power 
in  the  truths  with  which  they  were  familiar. 
Many  sailors,  and  ship  captains,  too,  had 
come  to  the  meetings  and  been  guided  in- 
to the  true  haven  of  rest  and  peace.  Then 
there  were  many  workingmen  who  had 
plunged  into  the  depths  of  intemperance, 
and  whose  insulted  and  injured  wives, 
after  being  driven  from  their  homes,  had 
been  compelled  to  support  themselves  and 
their  children  for  years  together.  These 
wives,  in  this  day  of  grace,  had  sent  letters 
to  their  husbands,  extending  their  forgive- 
ness and  imploring  them  to  come  to  Vic- 
toria Hall  and  seek  forgiveness  of  the 
Saviour.  Some  of  them  had  come  and 
found  that  forgiveness,  and  gone  back  to 
lighten  their  homes  again  with  a  new  lustre 
and  joy. 

Allusion  was  made  by  one  of  the  speak- 
ers to  another  class,  one  much  too  large 
and  full  of  strange  and  painful  interest, 
consisting  of  those  who  have  in  past  years 
made  a  profession  of  love  to  Christ,  but 
have  wandered 

"  Away  on  the  mountains,  wild  and  bare," 

and  have  been  glad  to  take  of  the  husks 
that  the  swine  did  eat.  It  had  often  been 
asked  whether  the  converts  connected 
with  this  revival  would  stand  the  test  of 
time,  and  endure  the  temptations  of  the 
world.  When  the  question  is  put,  as  it 
often  is,  by  a  Christian  brother,  I  ask  ano- 
ther :  "  Brother,  have  all  your  converts 
stood  fast  ?"  I  can  only  confess  that,  dur- 
ing the '  forty  years  but  one  that  I  have 
preached  in  this  town,  I  have  missed  a 
great  many  from  the  fold ;  but  I  have 
found  some  of  them  in  that  inquiry-room. 
The  first  night  the  inquiry-room  was  need- 
ed, I  lingered  on  the  platform,  not  intend- 
ing to  go  into  the  room,  when  a  message 
came  to  me,  "  You  are  wanted  immediate- 
ly;  an   inquirer  wishes   to   see   you."     I 


went,  and  I  had  not  seen  that  face — I  will 
not  tell  you  whether  it  was  man  or  woman 
— for  twenty  years  ;  and  I  found  that  soul 
had  wandered  away,  and  had  kept  out  of 
my  sight  with  perfect  success.  The  first 
conviction  was  to  go  and  tell  him  by  whose 
hands  they  had  been  received  into  the 
Christian  Church.  Many  a  wanderer  has 
come,  and  Christ  alone  knows  how  many 
more  He  will  welcome  back  to  His  all-for- 
giving arms,  and  fill  our  hearts  with  a 
gladness  they  have  never  experienced  be- 
fore." 

And  so  the  great  work  flows  on  steadily, 
unhindered  in  the  least,  as  I  believe,  by 
the  newspaper  opposition  of  the  "  carping 
critics." 

Mr.  Moody's  Bible-lectures  last  week, 
though  (with  one  exception)  perhaps  not 
so  full  of  interest  as  those  of  the  week  be- 
fore, have  been  very  largely  attended  and 
evidently  enjoyed. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  meetings  of 
the  week  was  the  "  children's  service  "  on 
Wednesday  afternoon,  at  which  Mr.  Moody 
and  Mr.  Sankey  were  both  present.  So 
many  little  ones  it  has  never  before  been 
my  lot  to  see  gathered  under  one  roof. 
Some  of  the  daily  papers  put  down  the 
numbers  in  Victoria  Hall  at  12,000,  with 
an  overflow  meeting  of  about  2,000  in  the 
Circus.  Think  of  such  a  number  of  young, 
impressible  natures  brought  at  one  time 
under  the  sweet  sound  of  redeeming  love  ! 
Mr.  Moody's  address,  founded  on  the  book 
with  three  leaves,  black,  red,  and  white, 
was  a  sort  of  running  interchange  of  sim- 
ple yet  searching  questions,  and  answers 
very  promptly  given.  The  singing  by  Mr. 
Sankey  of  some  of  his  solos  was  greatly 
enjoyed  by  the  youthful  audience,  and 
when  they  all  joined  in  the  chorus,  or  sang 
other  of  the  hymns  right  through  with  great 
heartiness,  and  as  with  one  voice,  we  had 
yet  one  more  proof  of  how  universally  and, 
I  trust,  inalienably,  these  sweet  gospel 
songs  have  become  household  possessions 
throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  evening  meetings  during  the  week 
have,  as  usual,  been  crowded  for  some 
time  before  the  regular  hour  for  commenc- 
ing the  service.  The  overflow  meetings 
have  been  held  in  the  Circus.  Mr.  Sankey 
has  generally  been  present  in  the  course  of 
the  evening  at  both  places.  Mr.  Moody's 
gospel  addresses  at  the  evening  meetings 
have  been  characterized  by  much  simplic- 
ity and  power,  and  the  result  has  been 
seen  in  the  crowds  of  both  sexes  who  pass. 


lO 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


nightly  into  the  inquiry-room.  In  the 
words  of  one  who  has  been  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  work  during  the  past  week, 
they  have  been  "  Hocking  into  the  King- 
dom by  scores."  I  understand  from  the 
same  source  that  several  of  our  much-to- 
be- pitied  fallen  sisters  have  been  reclaimed 
through  the  agency  of  the  meetings.  Would 
to  God  that  every  poor  drunkard  and  profli- 
gate in  Liverpool  might  "  come  to  him- 
self" and  return  to  his  Father  like  the 
prodigal  of  old.  Let  us  thank  God  for 
what  He  has  done,  and  ask  Him  in  faith 
to  bless  this  special  agency  yet  more  abun- 
dantly. 

As  the  days  and  weeks  roll  past,  and  the 
same  scenes  are  so  often  repeated,  it  is 
difficult  to  find  fresh  terms  in  which  to 
describe  "  these  wondrous  gatherings  day 
by  day."  The  four  meetings  on  Sunday 
last  may  briefly  be  stated  as  a  repetition 
of  those  on  the  Sunday  before.  All  crowd- 
ed to  the  utmost  capacity  of  the  great  hall, 
and,  in  some  cases,  especially  at  the  after- 
noon and  evening  meetings,  multitudes 
turned  away  for  lack  of  room. 

The  service  for  "  non-church-goers  "  at 
eleven  o'clock  was  a  fresh  illustration  of 
the  power  of  Christ's  wondrous  love,  or 
"  compassion,"  to  melt  the  hearts  of  the 
most  supine,  and  to  rnove  the  consciences 
of  the  most  sin-stricken.  The  arrows  of 
conviction  went  home  right  and  left,  and 
there  was  a  large  ingathering  of  souls  at 
the  close.  Mr.  Moody  used,  by  w^ay  of 
illustration,  a  very  touching  chapter  of  per- 
sonal family  history  that  brought  tears  to 
many  eyes. 

At  the  three  o'clock  service  for  women 
the  hall  was  filled  to  overflowing  an  hour 
before  the  time.  The  women  are  quite  as 
determined  in  their  efforts  to  get  in  as  the 
stronger  sex,  and  some  say  not  quite  so 
well  behaved  under  the  trying  conditions 
of  a  crowd.  I  suppose,  however,  there 
muGt  be  some  allowance  made  at  this  spe- 
cial season,  and  if  one  could  be  certain  that 
they  are  all  as  anxious  (as  Mr.  Moody  said 
he  hoped)  to  press  into  the  kingdom,  a  lit- 
tle roughness  of  demeanor  may  well  be 
overlooked.  To  my  mind,  these  Sunday 
afternoon  meetings  for  women  have  been 
the  most  wonderful  of  all,  and  certainly 
not  the  least  important,  when  we  consider 
the  power  for  good  or  evil  that  must  be 
exerted  by  so  many  thousands  of  our 
mothers  and  sisters.  I  must  say  these 
meetings  have  proved  that  the  women  are 
not  only  quicker  in  their  apprehension  of 


the  truth,  but  more  honest  and  courageous 
in  avowing  their  apprehension  of  it.  At 
the  close  of  Mr.  Moody's  searching  ad- 
dress on  "  Excuses,"  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  the  audience  promptly  stood 
up  to  show  that  they  wished  to  excuse 
themselves  no  longer  from  accepting  the 
gracious  invitation  to  the  marriage  supper 
of  the  Lamb.  Mr.  Moody  spoke  to  the 
inquirers  that  filled  the  inquiry-room,  in 
language  and  by  illustration  so  beautifully 
simple  and  apt,  that  it  is  almost  impossi- 
ble to  conceive  any  difficulty  could  have 
remained  in  their  minds.  At  the  same 
time  Mr.  Sankey  addressed,  in  a  very  art- 
less, homely,  and  touching  way,  a  large 
body  of  anxious  inquirers  who  remained 
in  the  hall. 

Mr.  Sankey's  singing  at  this  service  was 
peculiarly  appropriate  and  effective.  At 
the  opening,  he  sang  that  solemn  and  ten- 
der invitation  to  the  feast,  "  Yet  there  is 
room,"  and  when  Mr.  Moody  had  ceased 
speaking,  and  the  whole  assembly  was 
hushed  in  silent  prayer,  he  broke  the  death- 
like stillness,  by  singing,  in  subdued  and 
pleading  tone,  "  Almost  persuaded."  His 
rendering  of  this  hymn,  which  in  some 
parts  could  only  be  compared  to  a  wail  of 
sorrow  at  lost  opportunities,  sent  a  deep 
thrill  through  the  hearts  of  those  thousands 
of  listeners. 

The  inquiry-meetings  for  men,  at  which 
Mr.  Moody  re-delivered  the  address  on 
"  Excuses,"  was  another  season  of  pente- 
costal  power,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
present  to  wound  and  to  heal,  to  kill  and 
to  make  alive. 


VIL 

Mr.  Moody,  before  leaving  Liverpool, 
addressed  an  immense  meeting  in  behalf 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
and  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  build- 
ing, and  in  the  evening  held  a  service  at 
Victoria  Hall  for  young  men  under  35 
years  of  age.  On  the  tv/o  following  days, 
there  was  a  Convention,  at  which  Mr. 
Moody  presided,  and  which  was  very  large- 
ly attended. 

The  closing  services  were  held  on  Sun- 
day, the  7th  of  March,  at  eight  a.  m.,  for 
Christian  workers;  at  eleven  a.  m.,  for 
young  converts  and  inquirers;  at  three 
p.  M.,  for  women  only ;  and  at  eight  p.  M., 
for  men  only.  Each  of  these  services  was 
very  largely  attended.  For  two  hours  be- 
fore the  proceedings  commenced  .hundreds 


LONDON. 


II 


of  people  besieged  the  building,  eager  to 
secure  admission.  Mr.  Sankey  was  not 
present,  but  Mr.  Moody  delivered  appro- 
priate addresses,  exhorting  his  audiences 
to    perseverance,    and    commending    the 


efforts  of  the  ministers  who  promised 
to  take  his  place  in  a  series  of  services, 
to  be  held  this  month  in  the  capacious 
building  in  which  they  were  then  assem- 
bled.     ' 


THE     \A/ORK     IN     LONDON. 


The  prescribed  limits  of  this  narrative 
will  not  permit  anything  like  a  complete 
or  consecutive  account  of  all  the  daily 
scenes  and  incidents  in  connection  with 
the  labors  of  the  Evangelists  in  London. 
The  following  extracts  from  the  religious 
journals  will  enable  the  reader,  however, 
to  obtain  some  glimpses  of  the  work  of 
ten  or  twelve  days,  and  the  impression  made 
on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  in  all 
ranks  and  conditions  of  life. 


I. 

The  four  months'  evangelistic  work  in 
London  with  which  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  propose  to  bring  their  sojourn  in 
Britain  to  a  close,  was  begun  on  the  even- 
ing of  Tuesday,  March  9th.  During  the 
first  month  the  meetings  are  to  be  held  at 
the  Agricultural  Hall,  Upper-street,  Isling- 
ton. The  following  month,  it  is  proposed, 
will  be  spent  at  the  West-end.  The  third, 
in  all  likelihood,  will  be  devoted  to  the 
East-end,  where  the  meetings  are  to  be 
held  in  a  building  at  present  in  course  of 
construction  for  the  express  purpose.  This 
edifice  is  situated  near  the  junction  of  the 
Mile  -  end  and  Burdett  roads,  and  is  ex- 
pected to  be  ready  by  the  end  of  April. 
The  southern  quarter  of  the  metropolis 
will  thus  fall  to  be  visited  last ;  though  we 
believe  it  has  not  yet  been  finally  decided 
whether  "  the  leafy  month  of  June  "  will 
be  allotted  to  the  East-end  or  to  the  South- 
side.  The  use  of  the  Agricultural  Hall 
has  been  secured  by  the  committee  for  ten 
weeks,  extending  from  the  28th  of  Febru- 
ary to  the  9th  of  May,  at  the  rent  of  ^^o 
a  week.  The  arrangements  made  to  adapt 
tliis  immense  edifice  to  the  purpose  of  the 
meeting  have  necessarily  been  on  a  most 
extensive  scale,  and  have  involved  a  large 
amount  of  expense,  and  the  exercise  of  no 
inconsiderable  skill ;  for,  like  Bingley  Hall 
at  Birmingham,  it  is  simply  a  great  shed 
designed  for  the  exhibition  of  prize  cattle, 


and  especially  for  the  famous  Smithfield 
Show  of  fat  stock,  which  annually,  in  the 
depth  of  the  winter  season,  attracts  so 
many  of  our  country  cousins  up  to  town. 
In  the  body  of  the  hall,  12,000  new  cane- 
bottomed  chairs  have  been  placed,  to  sup- 
plement the  2,000  already  belonging  to 
the  establishment ;  and  there  are  besides 
forms  capable  of  accommodating  2,000 
persons.  The  lighting  of  the  place 
has  been  effected  by  means  of  large 
gas  chandeliers  hanging  from  the  vault- 
ed roof,  with  lines  of  gas  jets  along 
the  sides  of  the  building.  The  thousands 
of  burners  that  bead  the  walls,  and  which, 
with  the  chandeliers,  yield  an  abundance 
of  light,  run  in  straight  lines  save  at  the 
centres  where  they  rise  in  three  semi-cir- 
cular arches.  The  acoustic  properties  of 
the  hall  are  greatly  aided  by  an  immense 
sounding  -  board  over  the  speaker's  plat- 
form. At  the  centre  of  this  platform  there 
is  a  small  dais,  covered  with  red  cloth, 
and  having  a  slight  rail  round  it,  and  a 
little  book- board  at  one  corner.  This  is 
for  the  president  of  the  meeting.  On  his 
right  are  the  seats  for  the  choir,  and  Mr. 
Sankey's  American  chamber  organ,  the 
latter  placed  by  itself  in  a  projecting 
square.  The  seats  on  the  left  are  for  the 
committee  and  others  taking  part  in  the 
service.  A  broad  strip  of  red  cloth  runs 
round  beneath  the  lines  and  arches  of 
light,  and  this,  besides  serving  as  a  pleasant 
bit  of  color,  bears  appropriate  passages  in 
white  lettering.  The  first  of  these,  on  the 
right  of  the  platform,  is — "  Repent  ye,  and 
believe  the  Gospel ;"  the  first  on  the  left — 
"The  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  The 
Central  Noon  Prayer -meeting  Committee 
which  is  the  body  charged  with  the  man 
agement  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's 
services,  has  for  the  present  its  headquar- 
ters -  fixed  at  the  Agricultural  Hall.  The 
meetings  commence  each  evening,  except 
Saturday,  at  7:30 ;  doors  open  at  6:30.  On 
Saturday,  when  the  Evangelists  rest,  there 


12 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


will  be  no  service.  A  noon  meeting  is  to 
be  held  each  day  at  Exeter  Hall  from 
twelve  to  one ;  doors  open  at  eleven.  This 
meeting  will  be  regularly  conducted  by 
Mr.  Moody,  and  Mr.  Sankey  will  also  take 
part  in  the  service.  On  the  Saturday,  how- 
ever, as  we  have  just  indicated,  they  will 
ot  appear  at  Exeter  Hall. 


II. 

OPENING    SERVICES.  —  SCENES 
OUTSIDE. 

Tuesday  evening,  the  9th  of  March,  will 
long  be  memorable  in  the  north  of  Lon- 
don, as  the  occasion  of  the  first  of  the  ser- 
vices in  the  Agricultural  Hall.  Long  be- 
fore the  hour  appointed,  large  and  small 
groups  were  wending  their  way  to  the  north 
from  all  quarters  of  London — each  group 
well  provided  with  the  blue-grey  covered 
hymn-book,  or  the  more  pronounced  yel- 
low, red,  or  blue  music  books.  Of  all  ages, 
from  the  white  -  headed  grandsire  to  the 
babe  in  arms  —  of  all  stations,  from  the 
dignitaries  of  the  empire  to  the  low-class 
workmen  and  laborers — of  all  grades,  from 
the  highest  Christian  working  ladies  of  the 
land  to  the  lowest  women  of  evil  lives — the 
twilight  met  them  seeking  the  Hall  in 
thousands ;  and  after  the  Hall  was  filled, 
the  doors  closed,  and  the  adjoining  hall 
filled  also,  thousands  upon  thousands 
came,  saw  the  closed  doors,  and  turned 
away  to  give  place  to  other  disappointed 
tliousands  following  them.  The  infidels 
were  present  also  in  foolish  force  outside 
the  Hall,  distributing  handbills  full  of  the 
most  false  and  malignant  misstatements, 
pretending  to  describe  Sunday  discourses 
of  Mr.  Moody  which  have  not  yet  been  give?i. 

"  Moody  and  Sankey's  Hymns,  one 
penny  !  with  all  the  music,  one  shilling  ! !" 
"  Moody  and  Sankey's  photographs,  six- 
pence each  !  "  "  Life  of  Moody  and  San- 
key, with  likeness,  one  penny!"  "Wood- 
en image  of  a  tumbler,  christened  Moody 
for  the  occasion,  one  penny  !  "  "  Italian 
organman  playing  '  The  gate's  ajar,'  chris- 
tened Sankey,  and  requested  to  accompany 
himself."  All  these  together  formed  such 
a  crowded  and  ever-shifting  illustration  of 
"  Vanity  Fair "  as  John  Bunyan  never 
dreamed  of.  Many  policemen  to  keep  the 
way ;  multitudes  of  young  men  full  of  fun 
and  joking,  multitudes  also  of  evil  women 
and  girls  gaily  dressed  joining  in  the  ri- 
baldry ;  the  two  together  forming  a  mass 


of  well  -  dressed  but  disreputable  black- 
guardism ;  proving  to  demonstration  that 
the  American  Evangelists  had  come  exactly 
where  they  were  sorely  needed  at  last. 

Omnibus-men,  cab-men,  tram-car-men, 
board-men,  and  loafers  of  every  descrip- 
tion, took  part  in  the  universal  carnival. 
Oaths,  jests,  slang,  ribaldry,  and  mockery 
were  all  let  loose  together ;  but  not  one 
serious  face,  not  one  thoughtful  counte- 
nance,— not  an  apparent  thought  of  God's 
judgment,  or  of  eternity,  in  all  the  vast 
changing  multitude  shut  outside. 

After  the  service  within  had  ended,  and 
partly  during  its  continuance,  detachments 
of  choirs  belonging  to  the  neighboring 
missions  had  stationed  themselves  adjoin- 
ing the  Hall,  and  occupied  themselves  in 
singing  the  "  song  and  solos,"  and  deliver- 
ing addresses  of  the  briefest  character. 
Some  of  these  groups  were  too  close  to- 
gether; and  the  effect  was  exceedingly 
bad,  as  the  songs  were  inextricably  min- 
gled, and  thus  caused  to  suggest  anything 
but  serious  thought.  This,  however,  was 
speedily  remedied  by  the  incorporation  of 
the  choirs,  when  better  work  was  done. 
But  all  seemed  in  vain  ;  the  very  spirit  of 
mockery  seemed  to  possess  the  great  ma- 
jority. There  was  nothing  like  spiteful 
opposition,  much  less  of  interference ;  rather 
the  singers  and  speakers  were  regarded  as 
amiable  enthusiasts,  who  had  rashly  deliv- 
ered themselves  to  the  merciless  mockery 
of  a  London  mob. 

Was  there  any  good  done  by  these  open- 
air  services .-"  Certainly  :  if  only  for  the 
unflinching  but  temperate  stand  made  by 
the  Lord's  servants  in  showing  themselves 
on  the  Lord's  side  ;  and,  doubtless,  when 
this  persistent  bitter  wind  will  allow  of 
earnest  speaking  taking  its  full  share  in  the 
work,  much  better  things  will  fall  to  be  re- 
ported. 

THE  SCENE  WITHIN. 

Long  before  the  hour  appointed  to  com- 
mence the  service,  the  enormous  Hall  was 
filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  the  doors 
were  shut.  The  building  consists  of  a  vast 
central  space  open  to  the  roof,  which  is 
arched — constructed  of  iron  and  glass,  and 
sides  with  a  gallery  running  round  the  build- 
ing, which  is  oblong  in  form.  One  side  to 
the  gallery  is  boarded  in  for  inquiry-rooms ; 
in  the  centre  of  this  side,  a  platform,  hold- 
ing 500  persons,  is  erected,  and  from  the 
front  of  the  platform  the  addresses  are 
given.    Seats  are  provided  for  about  12,000 


LONDON. 


X3 


persons,  beyond  the  seats  already  in  the 
building.  Large  temporary  galleries  are 
also  erected  at  each  end  ;  so  that  the 
whole  vast  audience  is  in  full  sight  of  the 
speakers  on  the  platform ;  and  the  view  of 
this  vast  audience  is  a  sight  that  is  majestic 
from  its  very  magnitude. 

THE    SERVICES. 

When,  upon  the  word  given,  the  vast 
multitude  arose  to  sing  together,  the  effect 
was  wonderful ;  not  so  much  for  the  mag- 
nitude as  the  full,  deep,  rolling  volume  of 
sound  issuing  from  voices  uttering  music 
known  most  probably  to  every  one  in  the 
building. 

To  pass  the  time  pleasantly,  various 
hymns  were  sung  until  the  time  appointed ; 
when  Mr.  Moody  took  the  president's 
place,  and  Mr.  Sankey  sat  down  to  his  in- 
strument. There  was  some  applause  as 
they  entered,  as  also  at  the  conclusion  of 
Mr.  Sankey's  solo ;  but  both  were  immedi- 
ately hushed  by  those  who  remembered 
they  were  met  for  the  worship  of  God. 

The  commencing  word  was  Praise  — 
"  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 
"  Praise  God,"  said  the  chairman,  "  for  what 
He  is  going  to  do  for  London."  Then 
earnest  prayer  followed,  and  the  ictoth 
Psalm  was  sung.  Silent  prayer  followed. 
Then  Mr.  Moody  led  an  audible  prayer, 
and  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
passeth  by."  The  whole  audience  joined 
in  singing  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  then  fol- 
lowed Mr.  Moody's  address  of  the  evening. 

He  read  i  Cor.  i.  17  to  end;  but  after 
speaking  for  a  short  time,  was  interrupted 
by  a  man  who  was  not  sober.  "  When  a 
man  is  in  liquor,"  said  the  president,  "  and 
makes  a  noise,  he  ought  to  be  removed ; 
we  will  therefore  sing  the  6ist  hymn  while 
this  is  done."  Seized  upon  energetically 
by  five  strong  hall  stewards,  the  drunken 
one  was  speedily  removed,  the  stewards 
receiving  an  injunction  to  "be  careful  "  as 
they  passed  the  platform.  Then  Mr. 
Moody  resumed  and  concluded  his  ad- 
dress. The  meeting  concluded  by  all  the 
people  singing  "  Hold  the  fort,"  with  such 
vigor  and  effect,  that  the  sound  was  heard 
and  recognized  in  the  neighboring  streets. 
Then  prayer  and  benediction  closed  the 
evening,  as  there  was  no  after-meeting. 

THE  DAILY  PRAYER-MEETING. 

The  next  day,  Wednesday,  March  lo,  at 
noon,  the  first  daily  prayer-meeting  was 
held  in  Exeter  Hall,  Strand.     Long  before 


the  hour  of  commencing,  the  Hall  was 
filled  to  overflowing  in  every  part  but  the 
platform ;  and  it  seemed  lamentable  to 
keep  hundreds  of  seats  empty  for  those 
who  did  not  come,  and  shut  outside  those 
who  were  anxious  to  occupy  them  —  the 
noise  of  disappointed  applicants  being  dis- 
tinctly audible  during  the  meeting.  Pre- 
cisely at  noon  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
and  the  Committee  appeared,  and  the  meet- 
ing commenced  by  singing  "  Sweet  hour  of 
prayer,"  followed  by  requests,  silent  and 
audible  prayer,  and  the  singing  of  "  The 
Great  Physician."  Mr.  Moody's  address 
followed  from  Jer.  xxxii.  27,  "  Is  there  any- 
thing too  hard  for  me  V  in  which  he  said, 
"  This  is  God's  challenge  to  Christians  to 
call  upon  Him  —  to  cast  out  all  '  ifs,'  all 
doubt  and  unbelief,  and  rely  joyfully  upon 
the  Lord  God  who  made  heaven  and 
earth."  He  also  read  a  most  touching  ex- 
tract from  the  first  letter  received  in  Lon- 
don concerning  a  child,  who  had  proposed 
to  wait  for  their  coming,  to  be  a  Christian ; 
but  had  found  the  pearl  of  great  price,  and 
been  "  called  home  "  before  they  reached 
the  city.  Mr.  Sankey  then  sang  "  The 
ninety  and  nine,"  and  the  meeting  was 
thrown  open.  Two  or  three  brethren  fol- 
lowed in  prayer,  and  the  meeting  closed. 

THE   SECOND   EVENING. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  March  10,  the 
second  meeting  was  held  in  the  Agricul- 
tural Hall.  The  attendance  was  not  nearly 
so  large  as  on  the  first  evening,  resulting 
from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Moody  requested 
the  doors  to  be  closed  at  half-past  seven, 
thus  preventing  many  thousands  who  were 
unable  to  attend  so  early  from  gaining  ad- 
mission. The  services  commenced  with 
prayer  and  singing.  Mr.  Moody  then  read 
part  of  Ezek.  xxxiv.  and  Luke  xv.,  com- 
menting as  he  went  on,  then  announced 
the  coming  meetings  on  the  Lord's  day,  at 
8  A.M.  for  workers,  at  3  p.m.  for  women, 
and  at  8  p.m.  for  men.  Tickets  would  be 
issued  for  all  these  meetings.  Then  silent 
prayer,  and  singing  "  Lord,  I  hear  of  show- 
ers of  blessing." 

Mr.  Moody  then  spoke  from  Luke  xix. 
10,  "  The  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost."  It  was  speed- 
ily apparent  that  great  blessing  from  on 
high  was  present  in  that  meeting.  The  ad- 
dress w^s  full  of  power ;  anecdote,  illustra- 
tion. Scripture  entreaty,  persuasion,  suc- 
ceeded each  other  again  and  again,  with 
lightning  speed  and  force,  while  the  vast 


14 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


audience  listened  intently.  As  the  interest 
heightened,  and  story  after  story  was  told, 
many  could  be  seen  wiping  the  tears 
openly,  apparently  unconscious  of  what 
they  were  doing.  The  graphic  picture  of 
the  meeting  of  Bartimeus  and  Zaccheus, 
after  the  former  had  been  healed,  was 
thoroughly  enjoyed ;  and  the  quiet  hit  at 
those  "  who  don't  believe  in  sudden  con- 
versions," in  the  statement  that  Zaccheus 
"  was  converted  between  the  branches  and 
the  ground,"  was  greatly  enjoyed.  The 
story  that  followed,  of  "  the  young  man 
converted  on  his  mother's  grave,"  gave 
occasion  for  an  impassioned  appeal  to  turn 
to  Jesus  then  and  there.  Silent  prayer 
followed  the  conclusion  of  the  address ; 
and,  amid  a  hush  that  was  almost  awful, 
the  sound  of  music  floated  on  the  air,  and 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  softly  "  Come  home — 
come  home."  Every  head  bowed,  thou- 
sands earnestly  praying,  while  the  soft 
music  seemed  to  enter  into  the  very  souls 
of  that  mass  of  humanity,  bowing  and 
swaying  even  the  hardest  to  thoughts  of 
repentance  and  prayer.  Then  Lord  Rad- 
stock  concluded  with  prayer,  and  the 
hymn,  "  I  hear  Thy  welcome  voice,"  was 
sung  as  Mr.  Moody  went  from  the  Hall  to 
the  first  inquiry  meeting  in  London.  Many 
hundreds  followed  him,  but  whether  work- 
ers or  inquirers  did  not  at  the  time  appear, 
and  it  is  far  loo  early  yet  to  speak  of  re- 
sults. 

Thursday,  March  ii. — Mr.  Moody  pre- 
sided for  the  second  time  at  the  noon 
prayer-meeting.  There  was  also  a  falling 
off  in  the  attendance  here  compared  with 
the  day  before ;  but  the  great  Hall  was 
nearly  filled,  and  would  doubtlessly  have 
been  filled  to  overflowing  during  the  ser- 
vice had  the  doors  remained  open.  The 
first  hymn  was,  "  Lord,  I  hear  of  showers 
of  blessing,"  followed  by  one  new  to  Lon- 
don, entitled  "  Wondrous  love,"  but  which 
will  assuredly  become  a  special  favorite. 
Silent  and  audible  prayer  followed  the 
classified  requests  for  prayer;  and  after, 
Mr.  Moody  spoke  in  explanation  and  de- 
fence of  "  inquiry  meetings,"  instancing 
many  such  meetings  from  the  Scriptures, 
and  asserting  that  the  inquiry  meetings 
ought  to  be  credited  with  four-fifths  of  the 
work  done.  He  was  just  a  very  little  bit- 
ter in  saying,  "  I  don't  know  what  some 
men  would  do  at  a  Pentecost,"  'or  his 
earnestness  seemed  intensified  to  bitterness ; 
but  this  disappeared  when  he  spoke  of  a 
boy  of  fourteen  with  a  Bible   under  his 


arm,  whom  he  had  met  in  the  inquiry- 
room  the  previous  night,  and  asked  as  to 
his  presence  there  ?,  The  boy  replied  that 
he  was  a  Christian,  hoped  to  meet  .some 
little  boy  like  himself  to  tell  about  Jesus. 
Afterward,  the  boy  was  seen  kneeling  with 
another  in  a  corner.  Mr.  Sankey  also  spoke 
earnestly  in  defence  of  the  inquiry-room — 
asking  objectors  to  visit  and  see  for  them- 
selves instead  of  finding  fault  beforehand  ; 
adding,  warmly,  "It  don't  take  half  a  man 
to  find  fault."  The  meeting  ended  as 
usual ;  but  after  its  close,  there  appeared 
to  be  an  impromptu  reunion  of  nearly  all  the 
evangelical  workers  in  London ;  the  re- 
semblance being  almost  perfect  to  one  of 
the  evening  conferences  at  Mildmay  Park. 

THE   THIRD   EVENING    SERVICE. 

This  was  much  more  largely  attended 
than  the  second,  every  seat  in  the  Hall 
being  occupied,  and  the  galleries  well  filled. 
The  choir  sang  several  hymns  before  the 
service  commenced  with  the  well-]cnt)wn 
"  Maggie  Lindsay  "  hymn  (as  it  is  called 
here),  "  The  gate  ajar,"  followed  by  prayer. 
"  The  Great  Physician "  was  next  sung, 
and  the  reading  foUov/ed  from  Luke  x., 
being  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan, 
in  which  the  priest  and  Levite  were  used 
as  types  of  churchmen  and  dissenters  to 
the  credit  of  neither  party.  "  Rock  of 
Ages  "  was  next  sung,  and  Mr.  Moody  re- 
sumed his  discourse  of  the  preceding 
evening  from  Luke  xix.  xo.  Much  better 
order  was  observed  than  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  previous  evening,  the  meeting 
being  admirably  controlled.  The  address 
was  most  solemn  and  searching  in  charac- 
ter, concluding  with  an  exhortation  to  im- 
mediate and  final  decision.  Mr.  Moody 
ended  his  discourse  by  prayer.  Then 
"  Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus "  was  sung, 
then  silent  prayer ;  next,  "  Guide  me,  O 
Thou  great  Jehovah  !  "  then  the  benedic- 
tion and  the  inquiry  meeting. 

Friday,  March  12. — At  eleven  o'clock 
in  London,  the  weather  was  of  the  most 
severe  and  trying  description — hail,  rain, 
snow,  slush,  and  a  bitter  east  wind  over 
and  through  all.  Nevertheless,  the  Great 
Hall  for  the  noon  prayer-meeting  had  a 
glorious  gathering,  and  there  were  quite  as 
many  present  as  on  the  previous  day ;  but 
notably  men ;  the  ladies  could  not  face  the 
terrible  cold  and  sleet. 

Mr.  Moody  took  his  position  punctually 
at  noon,- and  announced  the  hymn,  "Sweet 
hour  of  prayer,"  followed  by  multitudes  ot 


LONDON. 


*S 


classified  requests  for  prayer,  the  classifi- 
cation giving  a  somewhat  bizarre  character 
to  the  requests,  as,  ''''Eleven  sisters  ask 
prayer  for  brothers."  Mr.  Moody  resumed 
his  previous  noon  discourse,  "  On  the  in- 
quiry-room," instancing  various  faulty 
methods  of  dealing  with  inquirers,  particu- 
larly condemning  the  statement  often  made, 
"  Believe  that  you  are  saved,  and  you  are 
saved  ;"  and  pointing  out  that  saving  faith 
must  be  faith  on  the  Son  of  God.  He 
passed  on  to  consider  right  methods  of 
dealing  with  anxious  ones,  giving  many 
valuable  hints  and  texts  as  he  went  along, 
speaking  earnestly  against  mere  discussion 
on  his  way.  When  Mr.  Moody  concluded, 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  "Nothing  but  leaves." 
Has  Mr.  Sankey  been  listening  to  critics  1 
The  writer  heard  him  sing  the  same  hymn 
with  far  more  effect  in  Glasgow  at  the  con- 
vention. In  London  there  was  more  of  the 
artist^  but  it  seemed  less  of  the  earnest 
gospel  singer.  In  Glasgow,  it  was  solemn- 
izing and  thrilling !  In  London,  it  was 
very  7iice !  {N.B. — These  are  not  the 
writer's  criticisms,  but  the  opinions  ex- 
pressed.) After  singing,  a  gentleman  (name 
unknown)  spoke  earnestly  of  the  way  and 
the  need  of  working  for  Jesus.  He  was 
followed  by  another,  who  told  a  touching 
story  of  how  the  lost  are  found  in  London. 
A  tract  distributor  offered  a  man  a  tract 
on  Waterloo  Bridge  ;  jt-was  declined  with 
the  remark,  "  I  shall  be  in  hell  before 
night;"  the  words  were  heard  and  answer- 
ed, •■'  No,  you  will  not,  for  I'm  going  to 
heaven,  and  will  stick  to  you  all  day." 
They  left  the  bridge  together,  the  hungry 
man  was  supplied  with  food  and  taken  to  a 
place  of  worship.  There  he  fell  asleep. 
"  Perhaps  he  has  been  walking  all  night," 
said  his  friend ;  "let  him  sleep  !"  Service 
over,  he  was  conveyed  home  to  supper,  in- 
quiring concerning  all  this  kindness, 
"  What's  up  ?"  He  was  fed,  tended, 
reasoned  with,  instructed,  and  brought  to 
the  way  of  heaven  instead  of  being  in  hell, 
as  he  had  said. 

*  REVIEW    OF   THE    DAYS. 

So  ends  the  first  three  of  Mr.  Moody's 
noon  prayer-meetings  and  the  first  three 
nights  of  work  in  London.  And  it  is 
simple  truth  to  state,  that  such  meetings 
were  never  held  before  in  London,  if  ever 
they  were  in  the  world's  history.  In  three 
days  of  noon  and  evening  service,  about 
eighty  tJwusand  have  listened  to  the  glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God.     Well  might 


Mr.  Moody  express  his  thankfulness  to 
God — the  encouragement  he  had  received 
and  felt,  and  his  deep  sense  of  the  sympa- 
thy and  help  extended  to  him  and  his  col- 
league in  their  great  work.  Well  might  he 
dissolve  in  broken  accents  and  tears  of  en- 
treaty for  a  rich  blessing  on  himself  and 
those  who,  laboring  with  him,  will  share 
his  eternal  rest  and  reward.  Surely,  when 
bankers  and  rich  merchants,  and  ministers 
holding  high  official  positions,  are  content 
to  be  doorkeepers,  it  must  be  said,  "  We 
never  saw  it  after  this  fashion,"  and  this 
was  exactly  the  case  at  the  door  of  Exeter 
Hall  yesterday. 

On  Friday  evening,  March  12,  the  last 
meeting  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  for 
the  week  was  held  in  the  Agricultural  Hall. 
The  audience  exceeded  in  number  every 
night  but  the  first.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  there  was  the  same  dense  multitudes 
above  and  below. 

Mr.  Moody  gave  notice  that  on  Saturday 
evening  there  would  be  addresses  by  va- 
rious ministers ;  Sunday  services  as  before 
mentioned ;  Monday  evening  Rev.  J. 
Spurgeon  would  preach,  while  Mr.  Moody 
met  anxious  inquirers.  On  Tuesday,  Wed- 
nesday, Thursday,  and  Friday  there  would 
be  two  daily  services,  at  3  and  8  p.m.,  when 
the  same  address  would  be  repeated  daily. 
Tickets  would  be  issued  for  all  these  meet- 
ings. He  then  read  Matt,  vi.,  from  19th 
verse  to  end.  Mr.  Sankey  read  from  Mark 
X.  of  Bartimeus,  and  sang  "  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth passeth  by."  The  effect  of  this 
melody  was  simply  wonderful  in  its  stilling 
power  on  the  audience ;  the  sibillation  of 
the  "  s  "  at  the  end  of  the  line  could  be 
distinctly  heard  in  a  quiet  as  of  death. 
Mr.  Moody  took  for  his  text  Isa.  Iv-  6, 
stating,  for  two  evenings  he  had  dwelt  on 
man  seeking  God,  but  now  he  would  speak 
of  God  seeking  man;  yet  recommending 
earnestness  in  seeking  God  by  many  touch- 
ing incidents  and  suggestions.  This,  among 
others,  he  thought  "  the  dying  thief  might 
have  had  a  praying  mother."  He  also 
turned  to  the  ministers  around  him  and 
asked,  "  Did  they  believe  that  God  was 
present,  and  willing  to  save.^"  and  was  in- 
stantly answered  by  an  audible  "  Yes."  A 
tearful,  impassioned  appeal  followed  to  all 
classes  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  He  would 
assuredly  be  found.  Silent  prayer  succeed- 
ed, and  Mr,  Sankey  sang  "  Almost  per- 
suaded." Then  the  audience  were  dis- 
missed, and  all  anxious,  and  all  workers, 
were  invited  to  remain,  an  invitation  that 


i6 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


was  accepted  by  several  thousufids !  The 
whole  space  under  the  arched  room  was 
occupied  by  seekers  and  workers,  while  the 
responses  to  earnest  prayers  rolled  around 
like  the  deep  tones  of  the  great  sea  waves 
at  night.  The  Lord  was  there.  Inquirer 
after  inquirer  made  themselves  manifest, 
until  there  were  scores  in  the  inquiry-room, 
and  scores  remaining  in  the  hall  speaking 
"with  the  workers  there.  In  the  inquiry- 
room  were  seekers  and  workers  in  every 
direction,  and  very  many  found  peace  in 
believing.  One  fine  young  man  fell  to  the 
lot  of  the  writer,  and  it  was  emphatically 
good  to  watch  the  dawning  of  divine  truth 
on  the  mind,  as  shown  in  the  intelligent 
face — to  see  the  look  of  anxiety  and  fear 
give  place  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of 
God — to  watch  the  birth  of  the  soul  to 
eternal  life  bring  forth  that  look  of  bright- 
ness on  the  face  which  is  never  seen  from 
any  other  cause.  One  young  lady  said 
"  she  was  so  happy,  she  seemed  to  tread  on 
air ;"  and  in  instance  after  instance  the 
testimony  grew  and  multiplied,  till  we 
could  only  rejoice  in  believing  that  num- 
bers were  born  again — not  of  corruptible 
seed,  but  of  the  incorruptible,  which  liveth 
and  abideth  for  ever.  Then  the  long,  hap- 
py evening  closed  by  Mr.  Moody  calling 
the  workers  together,  and  giving  some 
brotherly  advice  and  counsel  concerning 
the  details  of  work  in  the  inquiry-room. 

Oh  for  the  time  of  blessing  !  Oh  for  the 
rain  upon  the  weary  !  Oh  for  the  coming, 
in  mightiest  power,  of  the  loving  Spirit  and 
the  King  our  Brother,  among  the  ruined 
and  lost — among  the  weary  and  burdened 
laborers  on  this  rough  and  stony  ground  ! 
Our  Father,  hear  and  answer  Thy  chil- 
dren's heart-cry,  for  Jesus'  sake  ! 

I.    WORKERS. 

Sunday,  March  14. — On  Sunday  morn- 
ing, March  14,  the  usual  unbroken  quiet  of 
Islington  experienced  a  striking  change. 
From  every  direction,  solitaires,couples,  and 
bands  of  well-dressed  people  were  hasten- 
ing to  the  Agricultural  Hall.  Many  parties 
of  singers  had  arranged  to  meet  in  their  dif- 
ferent localities,  and  marched  with  songs 
to  their  destination.  Sunday-school  teach- 
ers resident  in  the  line  of  march  near  to 
the  Hall  had  invited  their  fellow  -  laborers 
to  breakfast  at  a  very  unusual  hour ;  while 
the  vendors  of  hymns  and  papers  round 
the  Hall  took  their  usual  week  -  day  posi- 
tions, and  transacted  a  large  amount  of 
buying  and  selling,  to  which  multitudes 


made  strong  and  indignant  objection. 
Pouring  in  at  all  the  entrances  to  the  Hall, 
there  was  speedily  convened  such  a  gath- 
ering of  its  Christian  workers  as  London 
had  never  seen.  It  was  a  complete  re- 
union. Friends,  whom  the  exigencies  of 
work  had  separated  for  years,  met  and 
clasped  hands  once  more ;  young  men 
grown  old  in  service  met  with  others  in 
like  condition,  whom  they  had  labored  with 
in  years  of  strength ;  and  comely  matrons' 
faces  were  recognized  as  those  of  former 
girls  in  Sunday-schools.  Long  before  all 
old  friends  could  be  recognized  and  greet- 
ed, the  time  for  the  service  arrived,  and 
the  Evangelists  stood  face  to  face  with 
many  thousands  of  the  Christian  workers 
of  the  great  Metropolis  for  the  first  time. 

Cool,  prompt,  and  business-like  as  ever, 
Mr.  Moody  announced  the  first  song  would 
be  "  Hold  the  fort,"  which,  being  recognized 
as  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
was  sung  with  a  vigor  that  left  nothing  to 
be  desired.  Earnest  prayer  followed,  and 
then  the  hymn,  "  Stand  up  for  Jesus."  Mr. 
Moody  read  part  of  Isaiah  vi.,  ending  with, 
"  Here  am  I ;  send  me  !  "  and  called  upon 
Mr.  Sankey  to  sing  the  melody  known  by 
that  title  ;  which  he  did  with  a  little  diffi- 
culty, perhaps  occasioned  by  the  sharp 
morning  air,  or  perhaps  by  having  been 
not  a  little  overworked  recently.  Then 
the  congregation  sang,  "  I  love  to  tell  the 
story,"  and  Mr.  Moody's  address  was  given. 

The  text  was  Dan.  xii.  3,  "  They  that  be 
wise  shall  shine,"  etc.;  and  Mr.  Moody  pro- 
ceeded to  say  :  We  all  like  to  shine,  and 
had  better  own  up !  But  who  shall  shine.'' 
The  wise  !  and  thus  the  glorious  privilege 
of  eternal  splendor  was  held  forth  to  all 
engaged  in  Christian  work  !  But  personal 
conversion  must  precede  the  conversion  of 
others  by  us.  And  here  he  narrated  a 
striking  instance  of  a  Sunday-school  super- 
intendent who  was  not  converted,  but  find- 
ing this  to  be  so,  went  honestly  to  his  min- 
ister and  offered  to  resign.  The  minister 
suggested  a  more  excellent  way  —  that  the 
superintendent  should  first  turn  to  the 
Lord  at  once,  and  then  continue  his  labors 
This  was  done ;.  he  turned  to  the  willing 
Saviour,  and  then  became  the  means  of 
the  conversion  of  the  teachers  and  a  great 
revival  in  the  school.  It  was  the  duty  of 
each  Christian  —  7iot  duty,  but  privilege 
(away  with  mere  duty  !  we  did  not  talk  of 
duty  to  wives  and  mothers,  and  why  in 
religion  .!*) — to  speak  to  some  person  daily. 
For  twelve  years  there  had  scarcely  been  a 


LONDON, 


17 


day  in  which  he  had  not  done  this.  Seek 
out  friends,  and  bring  them  into  the  cur- 
rent, that  they  might  get  a  blessing  and 
pass  it  on.  We  must  also  get  into  sym- 
pathy with  the  unsaved.  When  he  was 
laboring  in  the  school  at  Chicago,  a  teacher, 
who  was  going  away  to  die,  came  to  him 
in  bitter  trouble  about  his  unconverted 
class.  He  felt  his  strength  too  far  gone  to 
visit  them  ;  they  were  unsaved,  and  he  was 
leaving  them — going  away,  for  ever.  Mr. 
Moody  procured  a  carriage,  and  they  went 
together  day  after  day  for  ten  days,  until 
the  teacher  had  seen  all,  pleaded  with  all, 
and  won  them  all  for  Jesus.  The  tearful 
eyes,  the  pale  face,  and  the  deep  sym- 
pathy had  triumphed  for  Christ !  Then 
they  all  met  him  on  the  platform,  and 
the  wave  of  his  hand  from  the  carriage 
was  a  last,  long  farewell.  The  effect  pro- 
duced by  this  narration  was  very  deep. 
Sobs  and  tears  were  almost  universal. 
The  ministers  on  the  platform  were  wip- 
ing both  eyes  and  glasses,  and  some  were 
literally  scooping  away  the  tears  with 
their  hands.  Strong  men  were  weeping 
like  children,  and  the  speaker  himself 
wept  abundantly  as  he  remembered  and 
depicted  the  touching  scene.  Yes,  he 
continued,  we  must  get  in  sympathy  — 
make  their  case  ours,  their  troubles  and 
sorrows  ours,  and  then  we  shall  have 
prevailing  power.  He  spoke  of  a  poor 
mother,  whose  child  had  been  drowned 
in  procuring  drift-wood  from  the  river, 
and  whom  he  visited  along  with  his  little 
daughter.  "  If  that  was  me,"  said  my 
child,  "  wouldn't  you  feel  bad,,  father } 
Don't  you  feel  bad  for  the  poor  mother.'  " 
This  unlocked  the  springs  of  sympathy, 
and  I  did  feel  bad  for  her.  I  found  a 
grave  for  the  poor  child,  and  afterwards 
bought  ground  for  a  Sunday  -  school  lot, 
to  bury  a  hundred  of  our  poor  little 
scholars.  In  the  midst  of  a  most  striking 
scene  of  weeping,  such  as  that  hall  had 
never  seen  before,  the  address  concluded, 
and  Mr.  Moody  attempted  to  pray.  So 
deeply  was  he  moved,  that  he  was  com- 
pelled to  pause  in  his  prayer,  amid  dead 
silence,  to  recover  himself,  and  be  able 
to  proceed.  Then  we  sang,  "  Work,  for 
the  night  is  coming,"  and  the  benediction 
ended  the  first  workers'  meeting. 

2.    WOMEN. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  at  three,  the  first 
special  meeting  for  women  was  held.  The 
service  commenced  by  singing  "  The  Great 


Physician,"  after  which  prayer  was  offered, 
followed  by  the  hymn,  "  I  hear  Thy  wel- 
come voice."  Mr.  Moody  read  Ps.  Ivii., 
and  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  The  ninety  and 
nine."  Where  all  the  singing  is  so  good, 
it  is  hard  to  particularize ;  but  this  seems 
to  be  one  of  his  own  favorites,  and  is 
most  certainly  a  favorite  with  the  people. 
Then  all  joined  in  singing  "  Free  from  the 
law,"  and  Mr.  Moody  commenced  his  dis- 
course from  Gen.  iii.  9  :  "  Where  art  thou .'" 
Was  ever  such  a  gathering  of  women  only, 
convened  before,  simply  to  hear  the  gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God  ?  There  were,  at 
the  lowest  computation,  about  17,000 
women  present ;  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
was  clearly  there :  tears  and  sobs  and  re- 
pressed cries,  anxious  faces,  low,  earnest 
words  and  entreaties  for  mercy  were  all 
around,  as  the  discourse  proceeded  from 
point  to  point.  God  was  the  preacher  of 
this  sermon,  said  Mr.  Moody  ;  and  though 
the  first  audience  was  small,  the  sermon 
has  come  rolling  down  the  ages,  and  many, 
I  hope,  are  asking  themselves  this  question 
now.  I  am  speaking  to  professors,  to 
backsliders,  and  to  those  who  never  made 
profession,  but  all  equally  lost.  There  are 
three  steps  to  ruin  —  neglecting,  refusing, 
despising  the  good  news  of  God.  The 
discourse  concluded,  Mr.  Moody  offered 
earnest  prayer ;  silent  prayer  followed,  and 
then  the  soft,  persuasive  strain,  "  Come 
home,"  from  Mr.  Sankey,  arose  upon  the 
meeting,  the  choir  singing  the  chorus. 
Then  all  sang  the  hymn,  "  Lord,  I  hear  of 
showers  of  blessing,"  and  the  meeting 
closed  to  allow  inquirers  to  gather.  Such 
a  number  accepted  the  invitation  that  the 
large  inquiry-room  could  not  contain  them, 
and  many  were  spoken  to  in  the  bitter 
cold  without  the  room. 

3.   MEN. 

The  evening  service  was  simply  a  repe- 
tition of  the  afternoon,  but  for  men  only, 
instead  of  women.  Thousands  of  women, 
nevertheless,  accompanied  their  male 
friends  in  hope  of  admission,  but  were  dis- 
appointed— they  could  not  be  admitted. 
Nevertheless,  the  building  was  filled  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  and  the  doors  were  closed 
nearly  an  hour  before  the  service  com- 
menced. The  would-be  infidel  orator  of 
London  is  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  "  Re- 
ligion is  an  affair  of  priests  and  women." 
Never  again  will  he  be  able  to  repeat  that 
taunt,  after  the  meeting  on  Sunday  evening 
last,  when  nearly  15,000  men  of  London 


i8 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


were  held  breathless  by  the  simple  preaching 
and  singing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Before 
the  address  was  delivered,  Mr.  Sankey 
sang  "Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by;" 
himself  singing  the  verses,  and  the  vast 
multitude  joining  in  singing  the  last  line  in 
each  verse,  thus  producing  the  effect  of  one 
of  the  mightiest  choruses  ever  sung  on 
earth.  After  the  address  the  inquiry-room 
was  opened,  while  the  meeting  in  the  hall 
continued  with  praise  and  prayer. 

So  great  had  been  the  effect  produced, 
so  large  was  the  number  of  inquirers  who 
were  not  "  priests "  or  "  women,"  that 
there  were  not  enough  workers  present  to 
deal  with  them.  Nor  can  this  be  wondered 
at.  Christians  had  been  entreated  and  en- 
joined to  stay  away,  that  the  unconverted 
might  have  all  the  room  ;  and  this  request 
was  too  literally  obeyed.  It  may  also  be 
noted  that  most  of  Mr.  Moody's  best 
helpers  have  much  work  of  their  own  on  the 
Lord's  Day,  which  cannot  be  neglected 
even  for  the  inquiry-room.  With  all  the 
will  to  help,  churches,  chapels,  and  missions 
must  not  be  left  untended  through  the 
temptation  of  the  attractive  and  pleasant 
work  provided  at  Islington. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  on  Monday, 
March  15,  was  densely  crowded — hall,  gal- 
leries, and  platform  presenting  an  unbroken 
mass  of  believers  in  prayer,  quite  as  well 
able  to  judge  for  themselves  as  any  phi- 
losopher was  able  to  judge  for  them,  and 
having  that  which  no  unbeliever  could 
have — experience — to  guide  them.  After 
singing  the  hymns  "  Over  there "  and 
*'  Wondrous  love,"  Mr.  Moody  read  part 
of  Isa.  xii.,  and  then  proceeded  to  devote 
the  meeting  principally  to  accounts  of  the 
Lord's  work.  He  had  received  accounts 
from  Liverpool,  that  "  the  real  depth  of 
the  work  had  just  commenced,  that  it  was 
better  now  than  ever."  At  the  Glasgow 
noon  meeting,  convened  at  that  time,  the 
prayers  would  be  devoted  to  the  work  in 
London.  The  Earl  of  Cavan  read  a  letter 
from  Glasgow  concerning  the  work  in  the 
Metropolis,  and  offered  prayer  in  accord- 
ance with  the  letter.  Mr.  Quinton  Hogg 
made  a  touching  and  earnest  appeal  for 
workers  in  the  inquiry-room,  asking  if  it 
Avas  right  that  one  worker  should  have  ten 
inquirers.  The  Rev.  R.  W.  Dale  gave  an 
account  of  the  results  of  the  work  in  Bir- 
mingham, dwelling  largely  upon  the  in- 
quiry-room, asserting,  "  You  know  nothing 
of  the  work  until  you  go  there."  He  also 
spoke  of  the  need  of  more  cheerful  singing 


in  church  worship,  which  was  met  by  loud 
applause  and  clapping  of  hands,  which  Mr, 
Moody  immediately  and  very  decidedly 
repressed.  Lord  Radstock  gave  good 
news  from  Russia,  and  the  meeting  closed 
as  usual. 

On  Monday  evening  the  Rev.  J.  A. 
Spurgeon  delivered  the  address  to  a  great- 
ly-thinned audience,  while  Mr.  Moody  at- 
tended to  the  inquiry-room  ;  Mr.  Sankey 
also  appearing  on  the  platform,  with  the 
Rev.  R.  W.  Dale  and  many  other  ministers 
and  gentlemen.  Mr.  Billing,  the  chairman 
of  the  committee,  invited  the  anxious  and 
inquirers  to  St.  Mary's  Hall — an  invitation 
that  was  immediately  and  largely  accepted 
— the  audience  meanwhile  singing  "  I  am 
so  glad  that  our  Father  in  Heaven."  Mr. 
Spurgeon  offered  prayer,  followed  by  "  Je- 
sus, Lover  of  my  soul,"  and  the  reading  of 
Isa.  Iv.,  with  running  comments.  Prayer 
by  Rev.  R.  W.  Dale,  and  "  What  shall  the 
harvest  be  1 "  sung  by  Mr.  Sankey.  The 
address  by  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  founded  on 
"  That  spiritual  rock  .  .  .  Christ."  At  the 
close  of  the  service  it  was  made  known  that 
all  the  workers  were  required  in  the  inquiry- 
room,  and  there  was  no  after  meeting  in 
the  hall. 

THE    FIRST    AFTERNOON   MEETING. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon,  March  16,  at 
three  o'clock,  the  first  afternoon  meeting 
was  held.  There  were  about  seven  or  eight 
thousand  persons  present,  comprising  those 
who  were  not  occupied  in  their  daily  call- 
ings, with  not  a  few  lads  and  girls  among 
them.  The  service  commenced  with  "  Re- 
joice, and  be  glad,'  to  a  well-knov/n  Prim- 
itive Methodist  tune,  which  was  heartily 
sung  by  all  present.  Prayer  followed, 
and  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  There's  a  light  in 
the  valley," — not  at  all  an  easy  melody,  or 
likely  to  become  popular.  Mr.  Moody 
read  from  John  iii.,  and  the  meeting  sang 
"Rock  of  Ages."  Mr.  Moody  took  for 
text,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,"  say- 
ing they  had  better  get  the  text  than  the 
sermon  ;  there  was  life  in  the  text.  Men 
were  not  baptized  hut  born  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  They  must  be  born  again,  regen- 
erated. Regeneration  was  not  going  to 
church — Satan  went  to  church ;  not  read- 
ing the  Bible,  not  praying — Saul  prayed 
daily  before  conversion ;  not  attending  the 
Lord's  Supper — Judas  did  that,  but  was 
not  regenerated  ;  nor  was  it  trying  your 
best,  as  a  woman  told  here  in  the  inquiry- 
room,  and  was  answered,  "  That's  the  way 


LONDON. 


19 


down  to  the  pit !  "  Nor  was  it  baptism ; 
if  regeneration  could  come  by  baptism,  he 
would  leave  off  preaching  and  take  to  bap- 
tizing— if  he  could  save  by  baptism,  he 
would  get  a  bucket  and  baptize  all  whom 
he  could  come  near.  Has  not  God  a  right 
to  save  in  His  own  time  and  way,  and  on 
His  own  terms  ?  If  you  could  save  your- 
self, on  your  own  terms,  you  could  not 
make  them  so  easy  as  God  has  made  them. 
No  man  could  save  himself;  God  must 
save  him.  Under  the  law  it  was  '"''  Do  and 
live  J "  under  grace  it  was,  Live  and  do. 
The  address  concluded  with  the  story  of 
the  wounded  soldier,  who  sent  for  Mr. 
Moody  "  to  help  him  to  die  !  "  who  was 
brought  to  peace  in  believing  by  the  repe- 
tition of  John  iii.  14,  "As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent,"  etc.  After  the  address  the 
audience  sang  "  There  is  life  for  a  look," 
and  the  service  ended.  There  were  more 
workers  than  inquirers  in  the  room  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting. 

THE   EVENING    GATHERING. 

At  the  meeting  in  the  evening,  the  ad- 
dress was  repeated  to  the  largest  gathering 
yet  crowded  into  the  Hall.  The  demand 
for  "  more  seats  "  was  responded  to  as  far 
as  possible  ;  but  when  the  last  seat  was 
taken,  many  thousands  were  excluded  who 
would  willingly  have  heard  the  gospel. 
The  hymns  were  varied  from  those  sung  in 
the  afternoon,  but  the  reading  and  the  ad- 
dress were  the  same.  Prayer  was  oifered. 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  hymn  called  "  Mary 
Magdalene."  The  meeting  concluded  with 
audible  and  silent  prayer,  and  the  hymn, 
*'  I  hear  Thy  welcome  voice."  The  crowd 
that  retired  to  the  inquiry-room  was  so 
large  that  hundreds  sought  admission  in 
vain,  and  some  were  spoken  to  outside  St. 
Mary's  Hall.  Whether  those  within  were 
inquirers  or  workers  could  not  be  distinct- 
ly ascertained,  as  admittance  could  not  be 
given. 

The  address  at  the  noon  prayer-meeting 
on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  was  on  the 
subject  of  "  Prayer,"  founded  on  "  Ask,  and 
ye  shall  receive,"  etc.  The  three  words 
described  three  classes — those  who  ask,  who 
seek,  and  Avho  knock.  Some  ask,  and  don't 
give  God  time  to  answer.  He  heard  of  a 
little  boy  who  asked  for  his  father's  razor, 
and  when  denied,  cried  because  his  father 
didn't  love  him :  some  asked  God  for 
razors  !  Many  who  thoroughly  understood 
praying  for  others  did  not  know  how  to 
pray  for  themselves,  as  Moses,  Elijah,  and 


Paul.  The  sweetest  thing  he  had  ever 
learned  was  to  let  God  choose  for  him. 
God  gave  Christ  without  asking ;  what 
would  He  give  on  asking .?  A  dozen  knock- 
ing Christians  would  bring  a  mighty  bless- 
ing on  London.  After  the  address  Mr. 
Sankey  sang,  "  Knocking,  knocking,"  and 
the  meeting  was  thrown  open  for  prayer. 

The  meetings  at  the  Hall  in  the  after- 
noon and  evening  of  March  17  were  most 
encouraging.  There  was  a  very  large 
gathering  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  the 
evening  there  was  not  a  vacant  seat  to  be 
seen.  Before  singing,  Mr.  Sankey  led  in 
earnest  prayer  for  a  blessing,  and  then  sang 
with  solemn  feeling  the  hymn,  "  O  Christ, 
what  burdens  bowed  Thy  head."  Mr. 
Moody  read  from  Gal.  v.,  with  a  few  com- 
ments, and  we  sang  "  There  is  a  fountain." 
Mr.  Moody's  address  was  from  John  iii. 
14,  continuing  the  subject  of  the  previous 
day.  He  commenced  by  asserting  the 
greatest  sin  was  unbelief;  that  no  man  then 
present  would  be  lost  unless  he  refused  and 
despised  the  remedy  God  had  provided. 
He  instanced  the  supposed  case  of  a  man 
in  consumption,  near  death  and  hopeless, 
visited  by  a  friend  who  had  been  cured, 
and  who  had  brought  the  remedy  that  had 
cured  him— as  a  free  gift.  If  the  con- 
sumptive died,  he  died  because  he  had  re- 
fused the  remedy.  Mr.  Moody  proceeded 
to  instance  various  Avays  in  which  the  rem- 
edy was  declined  and  refused ;  illustrating 
as  he  went  in  broadly  dramatic  fashion, 
which  caught  and  held  the  thousands  of 
enthralled  listeners.  "  Suppose,"  said  he, 
"  a  young  man  dying  of  serpent-bite.  His 
mother  waiting,  watcming,  hearing  of  the 
serpent  just  set  up,  and  putting  her  arms, 
strengthened  by  love,  round  her  dying, 
perhaps  her  only  son,  and  dragging  him  to 
the  door  of  the  tent.  There  she  sees  him 
look  and  live ;  strength  returns  to  his 
limbs,  color  to  his  cheek,  and  joy  to  his 
heart.  So  is  it  when  the  sinner  looks  to 
Jesus — looks  his  sin  and  sorrow  away  to- 
gether. Mr.  Moody  next  pictured  one 
bitten  who  would  not  look  until  he  could 
understand  the  philosophy  of  cure  by  look- 
ing, and  who  died  in  his  unbelief.  The 
address  concluded  by  the  narration  of  an 
incident  concerning  a  Jew,  who  came  to 
the  Chicago  prayer-meeting  just  when  it 
was  ended.  He  had  met  the  text,  "  It  is 
appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,"  etc.,  and 
it  had  broken  him  down ;  and  he  had 
heard  of  the  prayer-meeting,  and  came 
there  to  be  taught.     Mr.  Moody  spoke  to 


20 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


him  of  Jesus,  but  the  Jew  scowled  in  unbe- 
lief, and  asked  to  be  taught  of  the  God  of 
Abraham.  Mr.  Moody  agreed  to  pray 
with  him  to  Abraham's  God  for  enlighten- 
ment concerning  Jesus.  The  Jew  pros- 
trated himself  with  his  forehead  to  the 
ground,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  light  and 
direction ;  and  as  he  sought  he  found. 
*'  Oh,  I  would,"  continued  Mr.  Moody,  "  I 
could  say  something  to  move  you,  that 
would  rouse  the  whole  of  you  !  One  young 
man  who  was  here  last  week,  and  declared 
his  intention  to  attend  the  inquiry-room 
this  week,  is  now  in  his  coffin.  Don't  leave 
unsaved  !  "  While  "  Almost  persuaded  " 
was  solemnly  sung,  numbers  left  for  the 
inquiry-room,  whither  we  will  now  follow. 

THE   INQUIRY-ROOM — ST.  MARY'S   HALL. 

St.  Mary's  Hall  is  a  large  concert-room, 
with  chairs  on  the  floor  fronting  the  plat- 
form, and  a  deep  gallery  round  the  sides 
and  end  of  the  hall.  Mr.  Moody  divided 
the  inquirers,  leaving  the  women  on  the 
basement,  and  sending  the  men  into  the 
gallery,  and  directed  the  workers  to  divide 
in  the  same  way.  All  round  the  gallery 
were  men  in  twos  and  threes,  to  the  num- 
ber of  two  or  three  hundred — each  couple 
or  three  separated  from  their  neighbors, 
and  earnestly  engaged  in  their  own  work, 
without  taking  any  notice  of  those  near 
and  around.  Here  was  a  couple  discussing 
a  difficulty  in  the  way.  There  another 
couple  earnestly  reading  passages  of  God's 
word.  Next  was  one  pleading  earnestly 
with  another.  Next  one  whose  work  was 
done,  as  the  close,  loving  hand-clasp 
showed.  Many  were  striving  together  in 
prayer,  two  by  two.  Here  a  worker  ear- 
nestly asking  for  the  light  to  come.  There 
another  pressing  the  inquirer  to  pray  for 
himself,  and  others  praying  earnestly  to- 
gether. The  writer  had  the  pleasure  of 
speaking  with  three  in  succession.  The 
first  was  a  young  man  who  had  made  long, 
wearying  endeavor  to  work  out  salvation ; 
he  had  been  trying  hard  to  come  to  Jesus, 
but  neither  work  nor  trial  had  brought  the 
assurance  of  faith.  To  one  so  much  in 
earnest  it  was  most  pleasant  to  show  salva- 
tion as  the  gift  of  God,  and  a  little  patience 
was  richly  rewarded  by  the  dawning  of  the 
light.  Then  said  he,  "  /  see  it  now  ;  please 
to  leave  me  alone  with  God!  "  Most  reve- 
rently and  willingly  this  was  done,  and  the 
second  was  spoken  to ;  he  also  promised  to 
accept  the  gift,  and  left  to  kneel  before  the 
Lord  in  seeking,  as  he  was  compelled  to  go. 


The  third  had  long  had  a  form  of  godli- 
ness, but  neither  its  power  nor  hope — he 
was  just  a  sleeping  nominal  church  mem- 
ber, who  did  not  wish  to  be  disturbed.  He 
had  wandered  into  the  inquiry-room,  think- 
ing it  was  public,  and  he  should  hear  an 
address.  Unable  to  deal  satisfactorily  with 
him,  the  attention  of  another  brother  was 
called  to  him,  and  we  passed  on  round  the 
gallery.  On  returning,  this  one  was  pray- 
ing earnestly,  the  second  was  gone,  and  the 
face  of  the  first  showed  better  than  any 
words  that  he  had  lost  his  burden.  Passing 
below  to  leave,  a  lady  who  was  talking  to 
three  working  girls  claimed  help,  as  help 
had  been  claimed  in  the  case  above.  We 
held  conversation,  and  speedily  all  three 
declared  themselves  on  the  Lord's  side  ; 
and  the  bright,  earnest  young  faces  glowed 
with  the  thought  of  the  gift  received,  and 
the  "  covenant  unto  death  "  with  Jesus.  As 
we  saw,  so  we  heard  of  many  to  whom  light 
and  peace  came ;  nor  was  it  the  least  impres- 
sive to  mark  how  willingly  help  was  given 
and  received,  hovv  entirely  absent  were  evi- 
dences of  self  and  self-seeking.  Conversions 
all  around,  an  atmosphere  of  prayer  and  the 
word  of  God,  the  subdued  hum  of  con- 
versation with  each  other,  and  converse 
with  the  Father  through  the  Son,  gave  a 
sense  of  "  nearness  of  access,"  of  personal 
presence,  of  a  very  present  and  loving  help, 
that  was  as  sweet  as  it  was  solemn.  Verily 
it  "  was  good  to  be  there  !  "  It  was  just 
eleven  o'clock  when,  after  three  hours  of 
delightful  service,  "  the  labor  was  done,  and 
the  laborers  gone  home." 

Thursday,  i8th.  —  There  was  the  usual 
crowded  hall  at  the  noon  prayer  -  meeting 
on  Thursday,  March  i8.  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  on  "  Prayer,"  specially  the  disciples' 
prayer,  commonly  called  the  "  Lord's 
Prayer;"  but,  said  he,  the  Lord's  Prayer  is 
found  in  John  xvii.  The  principal  point 
was  the  forgiveness  in  order  to  be  forgiven. 
When  he  spoke  of  a  woman  whom  he  had 
exhorted  to  forgiveness,  but  who  would 
not,  he  told  she  could  not  be  saved  until 
she  forgave  her  foe.  "  Then,"  she  re- 
plied, "  I'll  never  be  saved,  for  I'll  never 
forgive  her ;"  and  she  went  mad !  He 
spoke  also  of  two  girls  who  were  impressed, 
who  had  been  at  variance,  but  forgave 
each  other,  and  were  themselves  forgiven. 
It  must  ftot  be,  as  some  said,  I  can  forgive, 
but  cannot  forget ;  but  must  be,  as  God 
does,  both  forgive  and  forget.  He  spoke 
also  of  believing  we  received  what  we  de- 
sired.    Speaking  of  an  ophan  boy  who  had 


LONDON. 


21 


been  adopted  into  a  family,  and  was  asked 
if  he  could  pray,  and  responded  by  pray- 
ing as  he  had  been  taught  by  his  dead 
parents,  and  adding,  "  Please  make  these 
as  kind  to  me  as  my  own  father  and  mother 
were,  won't  you.  Lord?  of  course  you 
will !  "  After  the  address  Mr.  Sankey 
sang,  and  several  brethren  engaged  in 
prayer.  One  of  these  ended  by  repeating 
the  disciples'  prayer,  in  which  the  whole 
gathering  joined,  producing  a  most  striking 
effect ;  for  as  the  subdued  voices  rose  and 
fell,  it  was  with  a  thrilling  grandeur  of 
sound,  resembling  heavy  artillery  heard  far 
away. 

The  service  in  the  Hall  in  the  afternoon 
and  evening  showed  clearly  how  the  wave 
of  attraction  is  rising  higher  and  higher ; 
though,  perhaps,  the  unusual  mildness  and 
beauty  of  the  day  might  have  allowed  many 
to  attend  who  had  hitherto  been  wind- 
bound.  The  afternoon  service  commenced 
with  "  Wondrous  love,"  prayer,  "  Stand  up 
for  Jesus,"  and  reading  of  part  of  i  Cor. 
XV.  by  Mr.  Moody.  Then,  by  special  re- 
quest, Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  "  Ninety  and 
nine."  Mr.  Moody's  address  was  on  the 
word  "  Gospel,"  or  "  good  news."  The 
gospel  was  angelic  news,  and  it  was  sung 
before  it  was  preached.  It  was  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  life  and  death  of  the  Son  of 
God/(?r  us  !  It  was  the  sight  of  Jesus ;  at 
which  sight  down  went  Paul  into  the  dust, 
when  he  drank  so  deep  a  draught  of  con- 
viction that  he  couldnt  eat  for  three  days  ! 
Every  man  likes  his  enemies  out  of  his 
way,  and  the  gospel  took  our  three  great 
enemies — sin,  death,  and  judgment — out  of 
our  way  for  ever.  For  though  we  might 
die,  death  had  nothing ;  the  sting  of  death 
was  buried  in  the  bosom  of  the  Son  of 
God.  The  frontier  men  on  the  prairies, 
when  they  were  on  fire,  set  fire  to'the  part 
near  them,  and  when  it  was  burnt  bare 
stood  upon  it,  and  so  saved  their  lives. 
There's  one  mountain  -  peak  the  fire  of 
God's  wrath  has  swept  over,  and  now  it  is 
safe  for  ever,  and  that  is  Mount  Calvary. 
Then  he  told  of  a  father  and  son  who  were 
at  enmity  for  years,  but  were  brought  togeth- 
er by  the  dying  wife  and  mother,  but  only 
reconciled  over  her  dead  body  ;  so  the  sin- 
ner was  reconciled  to  God  over  the  dead 
body  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Mr.  Sankey  sang 
*'  Come  home,"  and  the  meeting  was  ad- 
journed to  the  inquiry-room,  whither  many 
retired. 

At  the  repeated  service  in  the  evening, 
at  eight  o'clock,  the  commencing  hymns 


were  the  looth  Psalm  and  "  Rock  of  Ages.' 
The  lesson  of  the  afternoon  was  also  re- 
peated, and  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "  I  love  to 
tell  the  story,"  the  audience  joining  in  the 
chorus.  The  great  hall  was  crowded  to 
the  utmost  limit,  the  attention  was  most 
profound ;  and  when  the  address  closed, 
Mr.  Moody  announced  that  the  inquiry 
meeting  would  be  held  in  the  gallery,  and 
the  prayer  -  meeting  in  St.  Mary's  Hall. 
Unhappily,  this  change  of  plan  had  not 
been  made  known  to  the  stewards;  they 
could  not  hear  Mr.  Moody  in  consequence 
of  the  people  moving  away,  and  the  con- 
fusion that  resulted  was  dreadful  —  thou- 
sands of  people  pressing  in  different  ways, 
the  centre  of  the  crush  circling  round  and 
round  in  vain  efforts  to  escape,  while  the 
attendants  shouted  confused  and  contra- 
dictory direction.  The  unravelling  was 
found  by  the  sheer  force  of  pressure  sweep- 
ing the  crowd  into  the  wide  street  in  front 
of  the  building.  It  is  only  needful  to  re- 
member what  happened  at  the  Surrey  Gar- 
dens when  Mr.  Spurgeon  preached,  and  to 
think  what  might  have  been,  to  feel  and 
express  deep  and  devout  thankfulness  that 
matters  were  no  worse. 

Friday^  igth.  —  On  Friday,  March  19, 
Mr.  Moody  presided  for  the  last  time  for 
the  week  at  the  noon  prayer-meeting.  The 
weather  was  bad,  the  audience  greatly 
thinned,  and  Mr.  Moody  appeared  to  be 
suffering  either  bodily  or  mentally,  very 
different  from  his  usual  happy  self-posses- 
sion. In  his  address  on  "  Prayer,"  some 
things  were  said  which  had  been  far  better 
omitted,  being  impossible  to  harmonize 
with  his  own  exhortations  to  unity  in  work, 
so  often  repeated.  Altogether,  the  meeting 
was  far  beneath  that  of  the  day  previous 
in  numbers,  spirit,  and  power. 

The  subject  of  the  address  on  Friday 
afternoon  and  evening  was  "Salvation." 
There  was  a  very  large  attendance  in  the 
afternoon,  but  in  the  evening  it  seemed  as 
if  a  human  form  was  planted  in  every  pos- 
sible place.  In  front  of  the  platform,  and 
on  every  step  of  it,  there  were  people 
crowded  as  closely  as  possible.  The  first 
hymn  was  "  Wondrous  love;"  prayer  fol- 
lowed ;  "  I  hear  the  Saviour  say  "  came 
next ;  and  then  reading  and  brief  exposi- 
tion of  Ps.  xl.  and  part  of  Acts  xvi.  Mr. 
Moody  remarked  on  Paul  and  Silas,  with 
backs  bleeding,  feet  in  the  stocks,  and  no 
supper,  praising  God — suggested  that  our 
praise,  if  there,  would  have  been,  "  Hark  ! 
from  the  tombs  a  doleful   sound."      Mr. 


S2 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Sankey  sang,  "  Yet  there  is  room  ;"  and 
Mr.  Moody  gave  the  notices  for  the  next 
week  and  commenced  his  address.  He 
seemed  a  little  straitened  at  first,  but  soon 
recovered  all  his  wonted  fire,  and  delivered 
a  red-hot  discourse  on  seeking  and  finding 
salvation.  In  speaking  of  leaving  all  earth- 
ly trust,  he  mentioned  a  miller  who,  in  a 
boat  asleep,  came  near  the  jaws  of  death 
by  the  mill  -  dam  ;  he  found  a  twig  which 
could  only  stay  his  deathward  progress  ; 
he  therefore  held  on,  and  shouted  for  help 
with  all  his  power.  A  friend  heard  and  let 
down  a  rope  (the  help  must  come  from 
above),  but  the  miller  could  not  grasp  the 
rope  until  he  let  go  the  twig.  This  he  did, 
and  was  rescued.  Mr.  Moody  next  nar- 
rated the  well-known  story  of  his  own  con- 
version by  the  ministry  of  the  teacher  in 
Boston,  and  his  after  meeting  and  influenc- 
ing for  Christ  the  teacher's  son.  A  most 
earnest  appeal  ended  the  discourse,  and 
the  service  concluded  with  prayer.  The 
after  -  meeting  was  held  in  two  inquiry- 
rooms  ;  one  in  the  gallery  over  the  platform, 
where  a  large  number  of  inquirers  gathered, 
and  many  more  than  double  the  number 
of  workers;  and  a  few  were  also  in  St. 
Mary's  Hall,  with  the  same  large  prepon- 
derance of  workers. 

Now  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  ex- 
ceeding abundantly  above  all  that  we  can  ask 
or  think,  according  to  the  power  that  work- 
eth  in  us,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church, 
by  Christ  Jesus,  thoughout  all  ages,  world 
without  end.     Amen. 

MEETINGS  ON  SUNDAY,  2 1  St. 

The  morning  service  at  the  Agricultural 
Hall,  which  was  for  Christian  workers  only, 
was  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  meetings 
that  have  been  held  in  London,  there  being 
about  16,000  persons  present,  all  of  whom 
were  either  Sunday-school  teachers  or  per- 
sons employed  in  similar  Christian  work. 
The  afternoon  service,  which  was  for 
women  only,  was  attended  by  about  14,- 
000.  The  evening  service  was  for  men 
only.  There  were  about  19,000  present, 
as  against  fully  20,000  the  few  preceding 
evenings.  Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  favorite 
hymn,  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by ;" 
Mr.  Moody  taking  for  his  text  the  words, 
"  He  that  believeth  on  me  shall  be  saved." 
The  evening  service  being  for  men  only, 
many  who  were  not  aware  of  the  restriction 
came  with  their  wives,  whilst  others  from 
a  distance  came  with  young  women.  It 
was  in  vain  that  they  pleaded  that  they  had 


come  many  miles  by  train  ;  the  orders  were 
peremptory,  and  no  women  were  admitted. 
The  committee,  to  accommodate  the  large 
number  of  women  who  had  come,  threwi 
open  St.  Mary's  Hall,  and  held  a  service 
there,  conducted  by  Mr.  Leithes,  of  Liver- 
pool. At  this  service  there  were  about 
2,000  women  present,  many  of  whose  com- 
panions were  in  Agricultural  Hall. 


III. 

THE  FIRST  MONTH  IN  LONDON. 

The  Christian  World  of  April  6th  thus 
summarizes  the  first  month's  work : 

To  -  day  the  American  Evangelists, 
whose  names  are  on  every  lip,  enter  upon 
the  second  month  of  their  London  cam- 
paign. They  have  all  but  completed  the 
series  of  meetings  at  the  Agricultural  Hall, 
in  Islington,  designed  more  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people  dwelling  in  the  great 
northern  region  of  the  metropolis;  and 
now  they  are  about  to  enter  on  the  daily 
occupation  of  a  building  specially  erected 
for  their  accommodation  at  the  East  End. 
From  week  to  week  we  have  furnished  our 
readers  with  full  reports  of  the  proceed- 
ings. In  this  way,  the  public  have  been 
enabled  to  obtain  a  comprehensive,  and  we 
believe  accurate,  view  of  a  series  of  meet- 
ings that  certainly  stand  without  a  parallel 
in  the  religious  annals  of  England.  We 
may  not  be  able  to  say,  with  a  respected 
contemporary,  that  Mr.  Moody  is  the  mod- 
ern Wycliffe  —  a  name  we  should  rather 
assign,  if  we  used  it  all,  to  a  great  English 
preacher  who  has  been  proclaiming  the 
Gospel  to  multitudes  in  London  every 
week  for  more  than  twenty-one  years. 
Neither  are  we  prepared  to  coincide  with 
the  magnanimous  assertion  of  a  Wesleyan 
Methodist  journal,  that  this  movement  puts 
the  revival  which  was  wrought  by  AVhit- 
field  and  Wesley  into  the  shade,  in  respect, 
at  least,  to  the  numbers  brought  under  the 
sound  of  the  Gospel.  These  are  state- 
ments, as  it  seems  to  us,  which  would  re- 
quire to  be  greatly  qualified  before  they 
could  be  accepted  by  thoughtful  men. 
Yet,  without  going  the  length  of  our  too 
exuberant  friends,  we  can  testify  that  the 
success  of  the  gatherings  over  which  Mr. 
Moody  presides  has  been  simply  marvel- 
ous, and  in  its  way  quite  unexampled, 
either  within  the  memory  of  living  men,  or 
in  all  that  has  been  recorded  by  the  pen  of 
the    English    historian   of  the    Christian 


LONDON. 


23 


Church.  Whatever  may  be  the  view  he 
takes  of  the  work,  as  to  its  true  spiritual 
significance  and  value,  every  candid  on- 
looker must  acknowledge  that  the  present 
is  a  phenomenon  which  cannot  be  too 
carefully  scanned,  or  too  fully  described 
by  the  contemporary  journalist.  It  will 
unquestionably  claim  for  itself  a  chapter 
of  no  inconsiderable  magnitude  in  the 
book  that  deals  with  the  religious  history 
of  England  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Some  little  service  to  the 
future,  as  well  as  to  the  present-day  reader 
may,  therefore,  be  rendered  by  an  attempt 
to  gather  up  the  salient  points  in  the  story 
of  the  first  month  spent  by  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  in  London. 

And  first  of  all  we  have  to  note  the  sus- 
tained, and  it  would  even  seem  growing, 
interest  which  the  public  take  in  the  meet- 
ings. Every  day  at  noon  Exeter  Hall  has 
been  well  filled ;  often  it  has  been  crowded, 
and  there  is  no  symptom  of  any  falling  off 
in  the  attendance,  while  it  may  be  confi- 
dently expected  that  when  the  prayer-meet- 
ing is  transferred,  as  it  will  be  on  Monday 
next,  to  Her  Majesty's  Opera  House,  the 
audience  will  be  as  great  as  that  building 
is  able  to  contain.  That  the  interest  in 
the  primary  purpose  of  the  noon-gathering 
has  not  declined  is  made  manifest  by  many 
pleasing  tokens.  Not  the  least  eloquent  of 
these  was  the  statement  made  by  Mr. 
Moody  on  Wednesday  last,  that  the  re- 
quests for  prayer  received  that  morning 
numbered  no  fewer  than  180.  The  reports 
of  spiritual  work  achieved  in  connection 
with  the  movement,  not  only  in  London, 
but  also  in  the  provinces,  have  been  multi- 
plying daily ;  and  these  form  a  feature  of 
the  proceedings  at  Exeter  Hall  which  does 
much  to  keep  alive  the  interest  and  to  in- 
tensify the  fervor  of  the  assembly.  Then 
there  has  been  the  appearance  of  new 
speakers  from  day  to  day — witnesses  to  the 
reality  of  the  revival  in  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  provincial  towns  of  England.  When 
the  meeting  is  thrown  open  to  volunteers, 
the  result  has  not  always  been  edifying ; 
but  Mr.  Moody,  as  a  shrewd  and  ready- 
witted  president,  keeps  the  most  of  the 
time  well  occupied  with  a  swift  and  flow- 
ing succession  of  song,  prayer,  and  ex- 
hortation, so  that  the  hour  seems  to  all 
present  to  be  only  too  short,  and  is  ob- 
viously most  refreshing  to  their  spirits. 
Mr.  Moody  is,  perhaps,  seen  at  his  best  at 
Exeter  Hall.  Some  of  his  short  addresses 
there  have  been  genis  of  pithy  exposition ; 


and  his  occasional  quaint  bits  of  self-de- 
fence, and  frequent  touches  of  mingled 
humor  and  pathos,  have  been  remarkably 
effective.  People  from  the  country  have 
formed  a  distinctly  perceptible  element  in 
the  congregation;  and  we  cannot  doubt 
that  these,  along  with  the  city  brethren, 
have  derived  useful  hints  from  Mr.  Moody's 
method  for  the  conduct  of  prayer-meetings 
in  their  own  places  of  worship.  In  this 
way,  we  think  it  likely  that  a  great  deal  of 
good  may  be  done. 

The  three  afternoon  meetings  held  at 
Sanger's  (formerly  Astley's)  Amphitheatre, 
were  among  the  most  successful  of  all  the 
gatherings,  and  are  said  to  have  been  the 
most  fruitful  in  spiritual  results.  The  place 
could  not  hold  all  the  people  who  flocked 
to  them ;  and  a  proportionately  larger 
number  of  the  "  lapsed  masses  "  were  to  be 
seen  in  these  South-side  gatherings  than  in 
the  assemblies  at  the  Agricultural  Hall. 
The  two  afternoon  Bible  readings — the 
first  held  in  the  Conference  Hall  at  Mild- 
may-park,  and  the  second  at  Exeter  Hall, 
and  to  both  of  which  admission  was  pro- 
cured only  by  ticket — were  crammed,  and 
they  seemed  to  be  greatly  enjoyed. 

As  for  the  great  meetings,  those  held 
every  night  (with  the  exception  of  Satur- 
day) at  the  Agricultural  Hall,  and  thrice 
on  Sunday  in  the  same  enormous  edifice, 
they  have  continued  to  attract  an  average 
attendance  of  at  least  eleven  or  twelve 
thousand  down  to  the  very  last.  On  the 
two  nights  when  the  address  was  not  given 
by  Mr.  Moody  there  was  a  great  falling  off' 
in  the  congregation.  On  Good  Friday  the 
Times  "  felt  bound  "  to  express  its  "  strong 
conviction  that  the  interest  of  the  meetings 
was  rapidly  falling  off;"  but  the  facts  do 
not  sustain  this  view.  The  largest  congre- 
gations have  assembled  within  the  last  ten 
days  ;  and  these  have  included  all  ranks 
and  classes  of  society.  Royalty  itself,  in. 
the  person  of  her  Royal  Highness  the 
Duchess  of  Teck,  has  expressed  its  inten- 
tion to  come  since  the  leading  journal 
proclaimed  the  turning  of  the  tide.  On 
one  evening  there  were  at  least  sixty 
clergymen  of  the  Establishment  present, 
with  Dean  Stanley  occupying  a  conspicu- 
ous seat  on  the  platform  ;  and  on  the  night 
of  Good  Friday  the  evangelical  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  sat  on  the  same  chair  which  a 
few  evenings  before  had  been  occupied  by 
the  Broad  Church  Dean.  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury, at  the  close  of  the  service,  paid  a 
visit,  along  with  his  daughters,  to  the  in- 


24 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


quiry-room.  In  respect  to  the  numbers  of 
tlie  Agricultural  Hall  congregation,  the 
floor  of  the  building  is  capable  of  seating 
9,000  persons ;  the  raised  platform  for  the 
choir  and  ministers,  250 ;  the  eastern  side 
gallery,  900 ;  the  western  side  gallery, 
1,000  ;  the  upper  raised  gallery  in  front  of 
the  platform,  1,350;  the  balcony  in  front, 
850  ;  and  the  upper  western  balcony,  350. 
Even  on  moderate  computation,  it  would 
seem,  that  about  350,000  must  have  been 
the  total  of  the  numbers  present  at  the 
Agricultural  Hall  services  during  the 
month  ;  though  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  veiy  many  persons  were  frequent,  and 
not  a  few  constant,  attenders.  It  would 
probably  be  a  liberal  allowance  if  we  were 
to  say  that  200,000  separate  individuals 
were  present.  The  arrangements  made  by 
the  committee  for  the  comfort  of  the  con- 
gregation and  the  preservation  of  order 
have,  from  first  to  last,  been  admirable. 

With  respect  to  the  inquiry-rooms,  they 
have  been  largely  attended  every  night  by 
Christian  friends,  clerical  and  lay ;  and  the 
penitents  pressing  in  for  spiritual  advice 
have,  on  many  occasions,  numbered  several 
hundreds.  But  there  has  been  no  more 
excitement  there  than  in  the  public  ser- 
vice ;  indeed,  the  proceedings  have  been 
more  subdued,  and  a  quiet,  solemn  earnest- 
ness has  characterized  all  that  has  been 
done  in  connection  with  this  part  of  the 
work.  Several  gentlemen  taking  part  in  it 
have  testified  to  the  good  accomplished  ; 
and  Mr.  Sankey  in  particular,  who  is  active 
in  the  inquiry-room,  describes  the  work  of 
which  he  was  witness  on  Sunday  week,  and 
on  every  succeeding  night,  as  being  in  the 
highest  degree  encouraging.  Many  Chris- 
tian workers,  though  not  so  many  as  Mr. 
Moody  desires  to  see,  have  scattered  them- 
selves among  the  great  audience  at  the 
ordinary  services,  for  the  purpose  of  speak- 
ing a  word  to  their  unconverted  neighbors  ; 
and  a  case  has  been  mentioned  in  which 
the  young  ladies  of  a  certain  seminary 
have,  in  this  way,  been  instrumental  in 
leading  twenty  individuals  to  the  Saviour. 
With  this  we  may  bracket  the  case  of  a 
lady  who  took  her  ten  servants  to  one  of 
the  services,  and  who  reports  that  seven  of 
these  have  been,  in  consequence,  converted 
to  God.  Mr.  Moody  has  detailed  instances 
of  persons  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  God 
in  the  inquiry-room  one  night,  and  appear- 
ing on  the  next  with  friends  whom  they 
desired  to  see  sharing  the  peace  which  they 
had  secured.     Since  the  second  Sunday  a 


young  men's  meeting  has  been  held  every 
night  at  St.  Mary's  Hall,  immediately  after 
the  public  service;  and  latterly  this  feature 
has  come  more  conspicuously  into  view, 
and  been  more  pressingly  urged  upon  the 
attention  of  the  class  referred  to  by  Mr, 
Moody,  who  is  ambitious  of  securing  a 
band  of  at  least  a  thousand  to  assist  him 
in  his  work. 


IV. 


The  following  discriminating,  candid,  and 
exhaustive  review  of  the  work  of  the  Evan- 
gelists, is  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  R.  W. 
Dale,  the  successor  of  John  Angel  James, 
at  Birmingham.  It  appeared  in  the  March 
number  of  the  Cofjgregationalist^  and  has 
since  been  widely  circulated  in  pamphlet 
form.  It  is  here  reprinted  in  full,  and 
is  well  worthy  a  careful  perusal. 

An  article  which  appeared  in  the  Con- 
gregationalist  for  December,  1872,  un- 
der the  title  "  Have  we  Forgotten  Christ  }  " 
closed  with  the  following  words :  "  Al- 
ready there  are  signs  that  the  power  of 
Christ  is  ready  to  reveal  itself  again.  In 
every  part  of  the  country,  the  despondency 
which  has  been  occasioned  by  the  de 
pressed  condition  of  the  spiritual  life  in 
Christian  people  themselves,  and  the  incon- 
siderable success  of  the  Gospel  among 
those  who  are  outside,  is  giving  place  to 
courage  and  hope.  Are  we  ready  to  receive 
the  returning  Christ .''  Many  have  prayed 
Him  to  come  back,  or  rather  to  reveal  His 
presence,  which  has  never  really  been 
withdrawn  from  us.  Have  we  learnt  how 
sorely  we  need  Him  ?  Are  we  prepared  to 
fall  at  His  feet,  and  to  confess  that  '  apart  * 
from  Him  we  'can  do  nothing'.?  If  we 
meet  Him  as  we  should,  there  are  the 
strongest  reasons  to  believe  that  He  is  about 
to  baptize  us  afresh  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire." 

During  my  absence  in  the  East,  the 
Congregationalist  contained  a  series  of 
articles  on  "  Religious  Revivals,"  written 
before  I  left  England ;  and  I  had  so  deep 
a  conviction  that  a  great  manifestation  of 
the  powor  of  God  was  at  hand,  that  I  re- 
turned with  a  strong  hope  that  I  should 
find  Church  after  Church  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  bright  with  anew  joy,  and 
on  fire  with  a  new  zeal.  The  hope  was  not 
fulfilled,  and  yet  it  was  not  altogether  dis- 
appointed. At  Derby,  at  Ipswich,  and  in 
some  other  places,  there  was  already  the 
dawn  of  a  new  day  ;  'and  in  many  direc- 


LONDON. 


2!) 


tions  the  darkness  was  beginning  to  melt, 
and  those  who  had  been  long  watching  for 
the  morning  were  growing  more  and  more 
confident  that  the  night  was  nearly  gone. 

In  what  form  the  new  spiritual  movement 
would  come,  or  by  what  agencies,  it  seemed 
impossible  to  predict.  In  the  series  of 
articles  to  which  I  hdve  referred,  it  was 
earnestly  maintained  that  "  if  in  our  own 
times  God  comes  to  us  in  the  greatness  of 
His  power  and  in  triumphant  love,  His 
coming  may  not  be  manifested  in  precisely 
the  same  forms  as  in  any  of  the  great  Relig- 
ious* Revivals  of  former  days,  and  may  not 
produce  the  same  effects."*  The  reforma- 
tion of  the  monasticism,  and  the  great 
religious  movement  associated  with  it, 
extending  from  the  close  of  the  eleventh 
century  far  into  the  thirteenth ;  the  Wal- 
densian  revival,  which  covered  a  part  of 
the  same  period ;  the  very  remarkable  out- 
burst of  religious  life  in  the  Low  Countries 
in  the  fifteenth  century;  the  Protestant 
reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century ; 
English  Puritanism ;  English  Methodism, 
— were  singularly  unlike  each  other ;  but 
they  were  all  the  results  of  fresh  communi- 
cations to  the  Church  of  the  life  and  light 
and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  one  case 
there  was  the  earnest  and  vehement  preach- 
ing of  Christian  morality ;  in  another  there 
was  a  clearer  apprehension  of  those  spiritual 
truths  which  touch,  and  perhaps  cross,  the 
boundaries  of  Mysticism  ;  in  another  there 
was  a  revolt  against  a  priesthood  that  had 
separated  the  Church  from  God,  and  a  re- 
discovery of  the  doctrine  of  Justification  by 
Faith  ;  in  another  a  strong  assertion  of  the 
necessity  of  the  new  birth.  The  men  who, 
under  God,  did  the  work,  differed  greatly ; 
they  were  monks  ;  they  were  common  peo- 
ple ;  they  were  popular  orators  ;  they  were 
scholars.  Some  of  them  wrote  books, 
others  preached  sermons.  Some  had  re- 
markable powers  of  organization,  and  have 
stamped  their  names  on  great  and  perma- 
nent ecclesiastical  institutions  ;  others  left 
the  new  life  to  take  form  according  to  its 
own  laws,  or  to  quicken  the  existing  organi- 
zation of  the  Church. 

I  thought  it  possible  that  in  our  own 
time  the  power  of  God  might  be  specially 
manifested  among  children  and  young 
people.  Nor  has  this  expectation  proved 
altogether  unfounded.  In  several  parts  of 
England  there  has  sprung  up  a  beautiful 
and  happy  religious   life  among  children, 

*  Congregationalist,  Jan.  1873,  page  2. 


which  is  the  promise  of  very  large  results, 
if  we  remember  with  devoutness  and  faith 
the  words  of  Christ:  "Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  Me." 

But  I  certainly  did  not  suppose  that 
several  of  the  great  towns  of  the  three 
kingdoms  were  to  witness  a  remarkable 
religious  movement,  originated  by  two 
American  strangers,  one  of  them  a  man  who 
had  been  trained  for  his  work  by  his  ex- 
perience as  a  Sunday-school  superintendent, 
and  the  other  with  a  fine  baritone  voice  and 
playing  an  American  organ. 

A  few  years  ago  I  had  read,  week  after 
week,  with  great  interest,  the  reports  in  the 
Chicago  Advance  of  Mr.  Moody's  addresses 
at  the  noon-day  prayer-meeting  in  that  city  ; 
but  I  had  never  heard  of  him  as  an  evangel- 
ist. Indeed,  until  he  came  to  England  he 
had  never  taken  an  evangelistic  journey. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  attempt  any 
general  view  of  what  these  two  guests  of 
ours  have  done — or  rather  of  what  God  has 
done  through  them — since  they  have  been 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  They  began 
their  work,  I  believe,  in  York  ;  but  in  York 
they  had  very  little  success.  Their  first 
great  impression  was  made  in  Newcastle. 
In  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  and  Dundee,  the 
impression  was  still  greater  ;  in  Dublin  and 
Belfast  greater  still.  At  Manchester  and 
Sheffield  they  collected  vast  crowds  of 
people,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
in  both  places  a  very  considerable  number 
of  persons  were  led  to  repent  of  sin  and 
to  confess  the  authority  and  mercy  of. 
Christ. 

During  the  last  fortnight  of  the  month  of 
January  they  were  in  Birmingham.  Their 
first  meeting  was  held  on  Sunday  morning, 
January  17  th,  at  8  o'clock,  in  the  Town 
Hall.  The  meeting  was  for  "  Christian 
workers,"  and  the  admission  was  by  ticket. 
The  morning  was  cheerless,  damp  and  raw ; 
but  the  great  building  was  crowded  in 
every  part.  In  the  afternoon  they  held  an 
open  service  in  the  Hall,  and  thousands, 
went  away  unable  to  get  in.  The  great 
test,  however,  of  the  measure  of  the  expec- 
tation which  they  had  excited  came  in  the 
evening.  Last  October  twelvemonth,  when' 
Mr.  Bright  addressed  his  constituents  after- 
his  return  to  the  Cabinet,  he  spoke  in, 
Bingley  Hall,  a  building  used  for  the  annual 
cattle  show,  and  as  a  drill  hall  for  the- 
volunteers.  Various  estimates  were  made* 
of  the  number  of  people  that  listened  toi 
Mr.  Bright  on  that  occasion ;  it  seems- 
probable  that  most  of  them  fell  far  short  of 


26 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  truth.  At  Mr.  Bright's  meeting  in 
October,  1873,  there  were  no  seats  on  the 
floor  of  the  hall,  and  without  seats  there  is 
now  reason  to  believe  that  the  hall  will  hold 
between  twenty  and  twenty-five  thousand 
people  ;  it  was  crowded  in  every  part.  For 
the  recent  religious  meetings,  the  "  Moody 
and  Sankey  Commit/:ee  "  hired  upwards  of 
nine  thousand  chairs.  On  the  very  first 
Sunday  evening,  long  before  eight  o'clock, 
when  the  service  commenced,  not  only  were 
all  the  chairs  occupied,  but  several  thou- 
sand people  were  standing,  and  thousands 
more  could  not  gain  admission.  It  is  difficult 
to  estimate  accurately  the  real  magnitude  of 
such  a  crowd  ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
there  were  thirteen  thousand  people  present. 
Every  night  through  the  first  week  the  Hall 
was  thronged  in  the  same  way,  and  there 
were  vast  crowds  outside. 

On  Sunday  morning,  January  24th,  it 
was  filled  with  people  who  obtained  admis- 
sion by  tickets,  and  who  before  they  re- 
ceived their  tickets  declared  that  they 
were  not  in  the  habit  of  attending  any  place 
of  worship.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day  it  was  filled  with  women,  and  a  second 
service  was  held  in  the  Town  Hall  for  the 
overflow.  In  the  evening  it  was  filled  with 
men.  There  was  a  break  on  the  Monday 
of  the  second  week,  when  Mr.  Moody  had 
an  engagement  at  Manchester,  to  meet 
those  who  professed  to  have  received  Christ 
during  his  visit  to  that  city.  Mr.  Bright 
spoke  in  the  Hall  that  night,  and  it  was 
most  inconveniently  crowded ;  but  some  of 
the  police  were  of  opinion  that  on  several 
of  the  following  evenings  the  crowd  that 
filled  the  Hall  for  the  religious  services 
was  denser  than  that  which  filled  it  for  the 
political  demonstration.  Night  after  night, 
long  before  the  hour  of  service,  long 
rows  of  carriages  stood  in  the  street, 
filled  with  persons  who  hoped  that  when 
the  crowd  about  the  doors  had  thinned, 
they  might  be  able  to  find  standing  room 
just  inside,  and  thousands  streamed  away 
because  they  found  they  had  come  too  late 
to  have  a  chance  of  pressing  in. 

In  addition  to  the  evening  service,  there 
was  a  prayer-meeting  every  morning  at 
,  twelve  o'clock,  at  which  Mr.  Moody  gave 
an  address  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  min- 
utes' length,  and  Mr.  Sankey  sang.  The 
meeting  was  held  at  first  in  the  Town  Hall, 
which  was  generally  quite  full ;  on  the  last 
four  days  it  was  held  in  Bingley  Hall,  and 
the  attendance  varied  from  four  to  six 
thousand.     At  three  o'clock,  after  the  first 


day  or  two,  Mr.  Moody  gave  a  "  Bible  lec- 
ture ;  "  he  began  in  Carr's  Lane  Chapel, 
which  was  soon  found  to  be  too  small.  It 
was  then  transferred  to  Bingley  Hall,  and 
the  attendance  varied  from  five  to  seven 
thousand. 

How  is  all  this  to  be  accounted  for .'' 

"  You  advertised  the  Americans  well,"  it 
has  been  said,  "  by  holding  special  prayer- 
meetings  every  day  for  three  weeks  before 
they  came — prayer-meetings  in  which  all 
the  Evangelical  Non-conformists  and  some 
of  the  Evangelical  clergy  united."  Well, 
no  doubt  the  prayer-meetings  were  a  kind 
of  "  advertisement  "  of  the  services,  and 
assisted  to  attract  large  numbers  on  the 
first  few  days. 

It  is  said  again  :  "  The  local  newspapers 
helped  you.  One  of  them  published  a 
series  of  articles  on  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr. 
Sankey  before  they  came,  describing  the 
impression  they  had  produced  in  Scotland 
and  Ireland.  The  Morning  News  gene- 
rally gave  several  columns  day  after  day  to 
reports  of  the  services ;  the  Daily  Post, 
though  prevented  by  pressure  on  its  space 
from  reporting  the  services  at  equal  length, 
gave  great  prominence  to  them ;  and  even 
the  local  Conservative  organ,  the  Daily 
Gazette,  always  had  enough  about  '  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  '  to  attract  attention." 
Granted :  the  Birmingham  newspapers 
helped  us  greatly. 

It  is  also  true  that  the  local  Committee 
advertised  the  services  most  efficiently. 
The  walls  of  the  town  were  covered  with 
their  placards,  and  these  were  constantly 
renewed.  Further,  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged that  when  once  it  was  known  that 
Bingley  Hall  had  been  filled  to  hear  the 
strangers,  a  certain  measure  of  popular  ex- 
citement and  curiosity  was  created,  which 
made  it  almost  certain  that  the  hall  would 
be  filled  again. 

I  have  had  some  experience,  however, 
of  popular  agitation.  I  think  I  know 
pretty  well  what  is  likely  to  be  effected  by 
newspaper  articles  and  advertisements; 
and  these  do  nrot  seem  to  me  to  explain  the 
interest  which  the  services  created  from 
the  first.  They  explain  still  less  the 
deepening  of  the  interest  from  day  to  day  ; 
they  do  not  explain  at  all  the  effects  which 
I  believe  have  been  produced. 

Some  people  have  said  that  it  is  easy  to 
get  crowds  of  women  to  '  hysterial  "  religi- 
ous services.  But  although  the  morning  and 
afternoon  meetings  were  largely  attended 
by  women,  i  believe  that  the  majority  of 


LONDON. 


27 


the  evening  congregation  always  consisted 
of  men,  and  of  men  of  all  kinds — rough 
lads  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  workingmen, 
clerks,  tradesmen,  and  manufacturers.  I 
happen  to  have  on  my  desk  a  list  of  per- 
sons that  came  into  Carr's  Lane  Lecture- 
room  one  evening  to  tell  me  that  they  had 
"  found  Christ  "  during  the  fortnight  that 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  were  here ; 
out  of  twenty-one  on  the  list,  eleven  are 
men,  I  have  another  list  of  persons  who 
came  to  me  the  same  evening  who  had 
been  quickened  to  earnest  religious  anxiety, 
but  were  not  yet  at  rest ;  out  of  thirteen, 
eight  are  men.  I  believe  that  these  lists 
imperfectly  represent  the  proportion  of 
men  to  women  among  those  who  were  im- 
pressed by  the  services,  for  I  generally  find 
that  men  are  slower  to  express  religious 
decision  than  women. 

Nor  were  the  services  at  all  "  hysteri- 
cal ;  "  the  first  sign  of  hysterical  excitement 
•jvas  instantly  repressed  by  Mr.  Moody,  and 
although  I  attended  a  very  large  number 
of  the  meetings,  I  saw  nothing  of  the  kind 
again.  It  was  very  curious,  too,  that  al- 
though the  crowds  were  so  enormous,  very 
few  women  fainted.  I  do  not  remember 
more  than  three  or  four  cases. 

The  most  plausible  explanation  that  I 
have  heard  from  an  "  outsider  "  was  sug- 
gested to  me  by  a  Unitarian  friend,  who 
said  that  since  all  the  Evangelical  Non-con- 
formists and  some  Evangelical  Church  peo- 
ple united  to  make  the  meetings  a  success, 
it  was  inevitable  that  many  thousands  of 
people  should  come  together.  But  it  so 
happens  that  of  all  the  towns  in  the  king- 
dom, of  which  I  know  anything,  Birming- 
ham is  the  least  curious  to  listen  to  stran- 
gers, whatever  their  reputation  and  on 
•whatever  subject  they  may  have  to  speak. 
The  Birmingham  people  are  very  loyal  to 
their  own  leaders,  and  seem  to  care  very 
little  about  men  who  come  from  a  distance. 
The  Evangelical  Non-conformists  are  no 
exception  to  this  rule. 

How,  I  ask  again,  is  the  great  interest  of 
the  people  in  these  services  to  be  account- 
ed for .?  The  truest,  simplest,  and  most 
complete  reply  to  the  question  which  I  can 
give  is,  that  the  power  of  God  was  mani- 
fested in  an  extraordinary  degree  in  con- 
nection with  them ;  but  there  were  con- 
current circumstances  which  deserve  no- 
tice. 

(i)  As  I  have  said,  I  attribute  very 
much  to  the  attention  and  expectation  ex- 
cited by  the  preliminary  prayer-meetings ; 


I  attribute  still  more  to  the  articles  in  the 
local  newspapers,  describing  the  impressions 
which  had  been  produced  by  Mr.  Moody 
and  Mr.  Sankey  in  other  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. I  also  attribute  very  much  to  the 
reports  of  "  revival  work  "  which  have  ap- 
peared for  many  months  in  such  news- 
papers as  The  Christian  World  and  The 
Christian — reports  which  have  convinced 
large  numbers  of  religious  persons  that  the 
services  of  our  American  visitors  have 
originated  a  religious  movement  more  re- 
markable than  any  we  have  seen  in  Eng- 
land since  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
Thirty  thousand  copies*  of  The  Christian^ 
containing  an  account  of  the  services  at 
Manchester,  were  distributed  in  the  con- 
gregations of  the  town  a  week  or  two  be- 
fore Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  came  to 
us. 

(2)  I  attribute  very  much  to  a  fact 
which  is  perhaps  not  sufficiently  recognized 
by  any  of  us.  There  are,  I  believe,  a  very 
large  number  of  persons — many  of  them 
regularly  attending  public  worship,  many 
of  them  never  crossing  the  threshold  of 
church  or  chapel — who  have  had  deep  re- 
ligious impressions,  which  have  not  issued 
in  a  clear  decision  to  serve  Christ,  but 
which  have  left  a  dull  aching  of  heart  for 
God.  The  sense  of  dissatisfaction  with 
their  condition  never  wholly  leaves  them ; 
it  sometimes  makes  them  very  restless. 
But  when  they  listen  to  the  preaching  of 
most  of  us,  they  feel  as  if  we  were  moving 
in  regions  which  are  inaccessible  to  them. 
If  they  come  to  our  places  of  worship, 
they  come  without  any  hope  of  receiving 
help.  Many  of  them,  having  found  that 
we  do  not  help  them,  never  come  at  all. 
When  such  people  heard  that  within  a  very 
few  months  thousands  of  men  and  women 
had  declared  that,  while  listening  to  Mr. 
Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey,  they  had  passed 
from  religious  indifference  or  despondency 
into  the  clear  light  of  God,  they  began  to 
think  that  for  them  too  there  might  be 
hope.  I  think  it  probable  that  many  of 
the  "  converts  "  will  be  found  to  have  be- 
longed to  this  forgotten  class. 

(3)  There  must  be  large  numbers  of 
persons  in  Birmingham  who  have  relatives 
and  friends  in  the  towns  that  the  Ameri- 
can Evangelists  had  visited  before  coming 
to  us  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  mothers, 
brothers,  sisters,  cousins,  old  school-fellows, 
and  old  shop-mates  wrote  urgent  letters  to 

*  I  think  this  was  the  number,  but  am  not  quite  certain. 


28 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


them  entreating  them  to  attend  the  ser- 
vices. At  one  meeting  for  "  inquirers  "  I 
met  a  young  man  who  seemed  quite  care- 
less about  religious  thought  and  duty,  and 
I  asked  him  how  it  was  that  he  remained 
to  that  meeting.  He  told  me  he  had  prom- 
ised his  friends  "  to  go  to  the  Moody  and 
Sankcy  meetings  ;"  and  he  seemed  to  sup- 
pose that  to  remain  to  the  inquirers'  meet- 
ing was  part  of  the  process  to  which  he 
was  pledged  to  submit  himself 

(4)  After  the  first  day  or  two,  the  ser- 
vices were  "  advertised  "  in  a  very  much 
more  efficient  manner  than  by  newspapers 
or  placards  :  every  evening,  at  the  *'  after- 
meeting,"  a  considerable  number  of  per- 
sons received  Christ  as  their  ''  Prince  and 
Saviour,"  and,  judging  from  those  with 
whom  I  conversed,  most  of  them  went 
home  with  overflowing  joy.  I  had  seen 
occasiotial  instances  before  of  instant  tran- 
sition fiom  religious  anxiety  to  the  clear 
and  triumphant  consciousness  of  restora- 
tion to  God ;  but  what  struck  me  in  the 
gallery  of  Bingley  Hall  was  the  fact  that 
tliis  instant  transition  took  place  with  nearly 
every  person  with  whom  I  talked.  They 
had  come  up  into  the  gallery  anxious,  rest- 
less, feeling  after  God  in  the  darkness,  and 
when,  after  a  conversation  of  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  or  twenty  minutes,  they  went 
away,  their  faces  were  filled  with  light,  and 
they  left  me  not  only  at  peace  with  God 
but  filled  with  joy.  I  have  seen  the  sun- 
rise from  the  top  of  Helvellyn  and  the  top 
of  the  Righi,  and  there  is  something  very 
glorious  in  it ;  but  to  see  the  light  of  heav- 
en suddenly  strike  on  man  after  man  in 
the  course  of  one  evening  is  very  much 
more  thrilling.  These  people  carried  their 
new  joy  with  them  to  their  homes  and 
Uieir  workshops.  It  could  not  be  hid.  On 
the  Sunday  after  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr. 
Sankey  had  left  us,  I  invited  those  members 
of  my  own  congregation  to  meet  me  who 
had  come  to  Christ  during  the  services  of 
the  preceding  fortnight.  A  few  who  were 
still  out  at  sea  longing  to  make  their  way 
to  quiet  water  came  with  them.  Nothing 
was  easier  than  to  tell  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  classes ;  I  think  I  could  have 
separated  them  into  two  divisions  without 
asking  a  question  and  with  scarcely  a  mis- 
take. Those  who  were  still  "  inquirers," 
if  they  did  not  look  anxious  and  troubled, 
looked  like  other  people  ;  the  "  converts  " 
were  bright  with  their  new  joy.  It  is  as 
yet  too  early  to  obtain  any  general  informa 
tion  about  the  extent  of  the  influence  which 


I  have  attributed  to  the  converts  theu' 
selves ;  but  among  the  names  that  I  have 
on  several  lists  of  persons  that  I  saw  my- 
self, I  find  the  names  of  two  clerks  who  sat 
side  by  side  at  the  same  desk,  three  pairs 
of  brothers  and  sisters,  three  husbands 
with  their  wives ;  and  four  brothers — rough, 
working  men  —  all  of  whom  have  been 
awakened  to  religious  thought  by  Mr. 
Moody's  addresses.* 

(5)  Nearly  all  the  "living"  and  active 
members  of  the  various  Evangelical 
Churches  hoped  that  the  services  would 
achieve  great  results  ;  and  many  Christian 
people  whose  religious  life  was  depressed 
and  sad,  trusted  that  they  might  find  their 
way  to  the  light. 

(6)  Direct  efforts  were  made  to  induce 
those  who  had  not  been  at  any  of  the  meet- 
ings to  come  to  them.  In  one  manufactory 
in  which  600  people  are  employed,  I  be- 
lieve that  there  was  an  attempt  to  induce 
all  who  were  not  in  the  habit  of  attend- 
ing public  worship  to  go  to  the  special 
meeting  that  was  held  for  that  class  of 
persons.  Hand-bills  were  distributed  from 
house  to  house  in  the  poorer  parts  of 
the  town.  Very  many  persons  of  all 
ranks,  who  had  become  interested  in  the 
services,  urgently  pressed  their  friends  to 
go  with  them  to  hear  the  American  stran- 
gers. 

(7)  The  services  themselves  were  at- 
tractive. 

Mr.  Sankey's  solos  evidently  touched 
very  many  hearts ;  and  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  manner  in  which  the  vast 
audiences  united  in  such  songs  as  "  Hold 
the  fort,  for  I  am  coming,"  and  "  Safe  in 
the  arms  of  Jesus,"  and  "  The  Great 
Physician  now  is  near,"  was  sometimes 
very  thrilling.  The  "  songs  "  have  been 
sharply  criticised.  It  is  very  easy  to 
criticise  them  ;  it  might  be  more  profit- 
able to  consider  why  it  is  that  both  the 
music  and  the  words  are  so  popular  and 
effective.  About  their  popularity  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  There  were  sometimes 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  people  in  Bingley 
Hall  for  more  than  an  hour  before  the 
services  began.  With  intervals  of  a  few 
minutes  they  occupied  themselves  with  the 
more  popular  hymns  and  melodies ;  and 
the  delight  with  which  they  sang  them 
was  obvious.     Passing  along  the  streets  I 


♦  Some  of  these  are  not  persons  with  whom  I  had  conver- 
sation at  the  "  after-meetings,"  but  are  persons  who  have 
given  their  names  to  me  as  wishing  to  enter  Cart's  Lane 
Church. 


LONDON. 


29 


hear  men  whistling  "  Safe  in  the  arms 
of  Jesus."  I  have  long  held  the  convic- 
tion, and  often  expressed  it,  that  the 
reformation  in  our  Psalmody  which  has 
been  going  on  for  the  last  five-and-twenty 
years,  though  it  was  very  necessary,  and 
tliough  in  some  particulars  it  has  been 
very  admirable,  is,  in  some  respects,  un- 
satisfactory. 

The  tunes  which  were  sung  by  Non- 
conformist congregations  thirty  years  ago 
were  often  vulgar,  but  they  were  real 
tun;s,  easily  learnt,  easily  remembered; 
and  they  haunted  people  during  the  week. 
Most  of  them  were  destitute  of  artistic 
merit,  but  the  people  liked  them,  and  they 
were  the  natural  expression  of  their  emo- 
tion. Many  of  the  nevv  tunes  are  not 
"  tunes  "  at  all.  They  are  not  vulgar,  but 
they  are  uninteresting.  They  differ  from 
their  predecessors  very  much  as  the  dull- 
ness of  a  "  respectable  "  dinner-party  dif- 
fers from  the  merriment  of  a  picnic  at 
which  the  people  are  just  a  little  unrefined, 
but  at  which  they  have  resolved  to  enjoy 
themselves.  I  do  not  like  either,  but  on 
the  whole  I  prefer  the  picnic.  The  men 
who  have  composed  or  adapted  the  new 
tunes  are  for  the  most  part  organists,  who 
know  very  much  more  about  how  to  get 
solemn  effects  out  of  their  instrument  than 
how  to  give  the  people  something  to  sing. 
Mr.  Sankey's  melodies  —  whatever  their 
demerits — are  caught  by  thousands  of  peo- 
ple of  all  kinds,  cultivated  and  uncultivat- 
ed, men,  women,  and  children,  and  are 
sung  "with  a  will." 

I  agree  with  those  who  say  that  we  ought, 
if,  possible,  to  get  really  good  music  for 
God's  service,  but  it  must  be  on  one  con- 
dition :  that  we  do  not  sacrifice  "  God's 
service  "  to  the  "  good  music."  Our  first 
business  is  to  enable  Christian  congrega- 
tions to  give  free  and  happy  expression  to 
their  joy  and  trust  in  God's  love,  and  their 
reverence  for  God's  majesty :  the  promotion 
of  their  musical  taste  is  a  matter  of  only  sec- 
ondary importance.  Moreover,  my  con- 
tention is  that  much  of  the  new  music 
differs  from  the  old  chiefly  in  one  particu- 
lar :  there  is  not  more  musical  genius  in  it, 
but  less  life.  Let  a  scientific  musician 
write  tunes  which  lay  hold  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  heart  of  all  kinds  of  men  as  pow- 
erfully as  some  of  those  which  Mr.  Sankey 
has  brought  together  in  his  little  book,  and 
most  of  Mr.  Sankey's  melodies  will  soon 
be  forgotten. 

The  same  principles  are  applicable  to 


the  hymns.  Critics  have  said  that  they 
are  "  childish,"  that  they  have  no  ''literary 
merit,"  that  there  is  something  ridiculous  in 
hearing  a  congregation  of  grown  people 
singing  with  enthusiasm,  "  I  am  so  glad  that 
Jesus  loves  me."  Well,  the  fact  that 
hymns  which  are  simple  even  to  childish- 
ness are  sung  by  grown  people  with  so 
much  earnestness,  that  hymns  with  no 
"  literary  merit  "  kindle  new  fire  in  the 
hearts  of  men  and  women  who  know  some- 
thing of  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  Words- 
worth, is  surely  worth  investigating.  Is  it 
the  "  childishness  "  which  accounts  for 
their  power  1  Is  it  the  absence  of  "  lit- 
erary merit  .^"  I  think  not.  Give  the 
people  a  collection  of  hymns  characterized 
by  equal  fervor,  expressing  with  the  same 
directness  the  elementary  convictions  and 
the  deepest  emotions  of  the  Christian  heart, 
and  if  they  have  also  the  literary  merit 
which  is  absent  from  many,  at  least,  of  Mr. 
Sankey's  songs,  they  will  become  equally 
popular,  and  their  popularity  will  be  more 
enduring.  But  our  hymn-books  are  too 
stiff  and  cold.  People  want  to  sing,  not 
what  they  think,  but  what  they  feel ;  and 
if  they  are  asked  to  sing  hymns  in  which 
there  is  no  glow  of  feeling,  and  in  which 
the  thought  is  perfectly  commonplace,  they 
will  not  sing  at  all.  *'  I  am  so  glad  that 
Jesus  loves  me  "  is  a  childish  way  of  ex- 
pressing our  joy  in  the  love  of  Christ ;  but 
if  hymn  -  writers  will  not  help  us  to  ex- 
press it  in  a  more  masculine  way,  we  must 
express  it  as  best  we  can.  How  few  hymns 
there  are  in  our  language  which  express 
thanksgiving  for  salvation  in  a  popular  and 
really  lyrical  form  !  how  few  which  express 
exultation  in  the  large  freedom  which  is 
the  inheritance  of  those  in  Christ !  Again, 
it  is  of  no  use  asking  people  to  sing  to  God 
in  a  language  remote  from  the  language  of 
their  common  life  :  hence  one  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  writing  a  really  good  hymn. 
There  is  similar  difficulty  in  writing  good 
secular  songs ;  we  have  an  infinite  number 
of  songs  which  are  musical  in  their  lan- 
guage, and  graceful  in  their  thought,  but 
which  have  never  found  their  way  to  the 
heart  of  the  nation ;  the  number  of  songs 
which  have  really  high  literary  merit  and 
are  also  popular  is  perhaps  smaller  than 
the  number  of  successful  hymns.  Mr.  Bin- 
ney's  "  Eternal  Light  "  has  the  simplicity, 
fervor,  and  dignity  which  constitute  a  per- 
fect hymn ;  but  I  am  not  sure  whether  its 
dignity  does  not  impose  a  kind  of  strain 
upon  very  many  minds,  which  though  very 


30 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


good  for  them  occasionally,  interferes  with 
their  delight  in  singing  it.  There  are, 
however,  comparatively  few  hymns  which 
combine  the  simplicity  necessary  both  for 
the  cultivated  and  uncultivated  in  acts  of 
happy  thanksgiving,  praise,  and  worship, 
with  elevation  of  thought  and  manner. 

But  it  was  not  the  singing  only  which 
made  the  services  interesting:  there  was 
great  animation  and  variety  in  them.  In 
the  evening  they  began  with  a  hymn  which 
the  people  sang  together ;  but  what  would 
be  the  "  order  "  of  the  service  no  one  knew, 
and  I  suspect  Mr.  Moody  did  not  know 
beforehand.  Every  man  who  is  accus- 
tomed to  conduct  public  meetings  for  any 
purpose  can  easily  tell  whether  the  people 
are  interested  :  Mr.  Moody  has  this  instinct- 
ive perception  in  a  remarkable  degree. 

After  the  first  hymn  somebody  generally 
offered  a  short  prayer;  if  it  was  clear  that 
the  heart  of  the  audience  went  with  the 
prayer,  he  would  then  read  a  chapter  and 
make  a  few  remarks  upon  it  as  he  read ;  if 
not,  he  would  ask  Mr.  Sankey  to  sing  a  solo, 
or  a  solo  with  a  chorus  in  which  the  people 
joined,  or  else  one  of  the  most  popular 
hymns.  Then  he  would  read  the  chapter, 
and  perhaps  have  another  hymn  or  offer  a 
short  prayer  himself.  Then  would  come 
another  hymn,  and  then  the  sermon.  Some- 
times the  sermon  was  followed  by  a  solo 
from  Mr.  Sankey,  sometimes  by  a  hymn  in 
which  all  united,  sometimes  by  a  prayer. 
Everything  was  determined  by  what  was 
felt  to  be  the  actual  mood  of  the  moment. 
Generally  the  whole  service  was  over  in  a 
little  more  than  an  hour  and  a  quarter. 
Then  came  the  "  after  meeting,"  of  which 
I  will  say  something  presently. 

Of  Mr.  Moody's  own  power  I  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  speak.  It  is  so  real,  and  yet  so 
unlike  the  power  of  ordinary  preachers,  that 
I  hardly  know  how  to  analyze  it.  Its  reality 
is  indisputable.  Any  man  who  can  interest 
and  impresT  an  audience  varying  from  three 
thousand  to  six  thousand  people  for  half  an 
hour  in  the  morning,  and  for  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  in  the  afternoon, and  who  can  in- 
terest a  third  audience  of  thirteen  or  fifteen 
thousand  people  for  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  again  in  the  evening,  must  have  power 
of  some  kind.  Of  course,  some  people 
listened  without  caring  much  for  what  he 
said ;  but  though  I  generally  sat  in  a  po- 
sition which  enabled  me  to  see  the  kind  of 
impression  he  produced,  I  rarely  saw  many 
faces  which  did  not  indicate  the  most  ac- 
tive and  earnest  interest.    The  people  were 


of  all  sorts,  old  and  young,  rich  and  poor, 
keen  tradesmen,  manufacturers,  and  mer- 
chants, and  young  ladies  who  had  just  left 
school,  rough  boys  who  knew  more  about 
dogs  and  pigeons  than  about  books,  and 
cultivated  women.  For  a  time  I  could  not 
understand  it — I  am  not  sure  that  I  under- 
stand it  now.  At  the  first  meeting,  Mr. 
Moody's  address  was  simple,  direct,  kindly^ 
and  hopeful ;  it  had  a  touch  of  humor  and 
a  touch  of  pathos  ;  it  was  lit  up  with  a  story 
or  two  that  filled  most  eyes  with  tears ;  but 
there  seemed  nothing  in  it  very  remarkable. 
Yet  it  told.  A  prayer-meeting  with  an  ad- 
dress, At  eight  o'clock  on  a  damp,  cold  Jan- 
uary morning,  was  hardly  the  kind  of  thing 
— let  me  say  it  frankly — that  I  should  gen- 
erally regard  as  attractive ;  but  I  enjoyed 
it  heartily ;  it  seemed  one  of  the  happiest 
meetings  I  had  ever  attended ;  there  was 
warmth  and  there  was  sunlight  in  it.  At 
the  evening  meeting  the  same  day,  at  Bing- 
ley  Hall,  I  was  still  unable  to  make  it  out 
how  it  was  that  he  had  done  so  much  in 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  I  listened  with 
interest;  everybody  listened  with  interest; 
and  I  was  conscious  again  of  a  certain 
warmth  and  brightness  which  made  the 
service  very  pleasant,  but  I  could  not  see 
that  there  was  much  to  impress  those  that 
were  careless  about  religious  duty.  The 
next  morning  at  the  prayer-meeting  the 
address  was  more  incisive  and  striking,  and 
at  the  evening  service  I  began  to  see  that 
the  stranger  had  a  faculty  for  making  the 
elementary  truths  of  the  Gospel  intensely 
clear  and  vivid.  But  it  still  seemed  most 
remarkable  that  he  should  have  done  so 
much,  and  on  Tuesday  I  told  Mr.  Moody 
that  the  work  was  most  plainly  of  God,  for  I 
could  see  no  real  relation  between  him  and 
what  he  had  done.  He  laughed  cheerily, 
and  said  he  should  be  very  sorry  if  it  were 
otherwise.  I  began  to  wonder  whether 
what  I  had  supposed  to  be  a  law  of  the 
Divine  kingdom  was  perfectly  uniform.  I 
thought  that  there  were  scores  of  us  who 
could  preach  as  effectively  as  Mr.  Moody, 
and  who  might  therefore,  with  God's  good 
help,  be  equally  successful. 

In  the  course  of  a  day  or  two  my  mfstake 
was  corrected ;  but  to  the  last  there  were 
sensible  people  who  listened  to  him  with  a 
kind  of  interest  and  delight  with  which  they 
never  listen  to  very  "  distinguished  "  and 
eloquent  preachers,  and  who  yet  thought 
that  though  Mr.  Moody  was  "  very  simple 
and  earnest,"  he  had  no  particular  power 
as  a  speaker.     I  do  not  intend  to  suggest 


LONDON. 


31 


any  comparison  between  Mr.  Moody  and 
our  great  English  orator,  but  I  have  met 
people  who  have  talked  in  the  same  way 
about  Mr.  Bright,  and  who  seem  to  think 
that  to  speak  like  Mr.  Bright  was  possible  to 
nearly  everybody. 

One  of  the  elements  of  Mr.  Moody's 
power  consists  in  his  perfect  naturalness. 
He  has  something  to  say,  and  he  says  it — 
says  it  as  simply  and  airectly  to  thirteen 
thousand  people  as  to  thirteen.  He  has 
nothing  of  the  impudence  into  which  some 
speakers  are  betrayed  when  they  try  to  be 
easy  and  unconventional ;  but  he  talks  in 
a  perfectly  unconstrained  and  straightfor- 
ward way,  just  as  he  would  talk  to  half-a- 
dozen  old  friends  at  his  fireside.  The  ef- 
fect of  this  is  very  intelligible.  You  no 
more  think  of  criticising  him  than  you 
think  of  criticising  a  man  that  you  meet  in 
the  street,  and  who  tells  you  the  shortest 
way  to  a  railway  station.  I  can  criticise 
most  preachers  and  speakers ;  I  criticised 
Dr.  Guthrie,  though  I  was  either  laughing 
or  crying  the  greater  part  of  the  time  that 
I  was  listening  to  him ;  but  somehow  I  did 
not  think  of  criticising  Mr.  Moody  until  I 
had  got  home.  Generally  there  seemed 
nothing  to  criticise ;  once  or  twice  in  the 
simplest  and  most  inartistic  manner,  he  said 
things  which  at  the  moment  he  said  them 
I  felt  were  of  the  kind  to  give  a  popular 
speaker  a  great  triumph,  but  his  whole 
manner  threw  me  out  of  the  critical  atti- 
tude. Some  men  force  you  to  be  critical. 
It  is  impossible  to  take  a  single  coin  from 
them  without  ringing  it  on  the  table  and 
looking  to  see  whether  it  is  properly 
"milled."  From  first  to  last,  they  provoke 
"watchful  jealousy."  It  is  clear  that  they 
are  taking  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  their 
sentences  ;  it  is  disrespectful  not  to  examine 
their  work.  It  is  clear,  too,  that  they  are 
giving  you  their  best  thoughts,  their  best 
arguments,  and  their  best  illustrations,  and 
they  show  them  to  you  just  as  a  collector 
of  gems  shows  you  his  last  triumphant 
acquisition.  It  is  impossible — it  is  almost 
insulting — not  to  criticise.  When  a  speeCh 
or  sermon  is  plainly  a  work  of  art,  criticism 
is  inevitable.  It  is  not  necessary  for  any- 
one to  paint  pictures,  to  sing  songs,  or  to 
deliver  artistic  addresses;  but  if  a  man 
insists  on  being  an  artist,  and  lets  you  know 
it,  he  forces  upon  you  a  critical  examination 
©f  his  performance. 

Mr.  Moody — so  it  seems  to  me — has  an 
"  art "  of  a  very  effective  kind ;  but  he  is 
infinitely  more  than  an  artist,  and  therefore 


most  people  listen  without  criticising.  This 
is  an  immense  element  of  power.  If  our 
congregations  came  to  hear  us  preach,  in- 
stead of  coming  to  hear  how  we  preach, 
the  effect  of  our  sermons  would  be  immeas- 
urably great.  Now  and  then  Mr.  Moody 
quoted  a  text  in  a  very  illegitimate  sense  ; 
Now  and  then  he  advanced  an  argument 
which  would  not  hold  water;  now  and 
then  he  laid  down  principles  which  seemed 
untenable ;  and  there  was  a  momentary 
protest  on  the  part  of  the  critical  faculty  ; 
but  the  protest  was  only  momentarily.  I 
was  not  thrown  out  of  sympathy  with  him. 
It  is  objected  that  he  is  too  "familiar" 
with  sacred  things.  Generally — not  always 
— the  objection  comes  from  persons  who 
are  extremely  ujifamiliar  with  them.  The 
fault  that  is  charged  against  him — if  it  be  a 
fault — is  perhaps  not  too  common  in  these 
days.  There  are  not  too  many  people  who 
live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being  in  the 
fair  provinces  of  Christian  truth,  and  Chris- 
tian hope,  and  Christian  joy.  Mr.  Moody 
is,  no  doubt,  very  "  familiar  "  with  things 
about  which  he  talks.  He  is  like  a  man 
who  keeps  Sunday  every  day  in  the  week; 
his  mind  does  not  put  on  Sunday  clothes 
when  he  begins  to  speak  about  religion. 
Religious  truth  is  the  subject  of  his  con- 
stant thought;  he  does  not  therefore  as- 
sume the  "  Bible  tone  "  when  he  begins  to 
pray  or  preach.  In  one  of  Mr.  Ruskin's 
books  there  is  a  very  remarkable  passage 
on  ecclesiastical  architecture,  which  has  oc- 
curred to  me  very  often  while  thinking  of 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey.  Mr.  Ruskin 
says  that  the  great  builders  of  the  Middle 
Ages  never  thought  of  building  a  church  in 
a  different  style  from  that  in  which  they 
built  a  house.  There  was  no  "  ecclesiasti- 
cal" style  of  architecture.  There  were 
houses  in  every  street  with  doors  and  win- 
dows and  niches  in  the  walls  for  saints, 
just  like  the  doors  and  windows  and  niches 
of  the  cathedral.  The  cathedral  was  larger, 
the  materials  used  in  it  were  richer,  the 
work  was  very  much  more  elaborate ;  but 
when  a  man  went  to  worship  God  he  did 
not  feel  that  he  was  in  a  building  different 
in  style  from  the  common  buildings  about 
him.  Mr.  Ruskin  does  not  discuss  ^the 
question  whether  for  religious  reasons  it  is 
desirable  to  have  an  "  ecclesiastical  "  style 
of  architecture,  but  he  insists  that  those 
who  erected  the  great  ecclesiastical  build- 
ings of  the  Middle  Ages  did  not  intend  to 
produce  the  kind  of  feeling  which  these 
buildings   produce   upon   ourselves.      We 


3* 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


feel  when  we  are  in  Lincoln  or  Notre  Dame, 
that  we  are  in  a  building  which  is  so  dis- 
tinctively religious  that  it  would  be  almost 
profane  to  apply  the  style  to  common  uses. 
This  is  because  our  houses  are  not  built  in 
the  same  style  as  the  churches ;  but  when 
those  great  churches  were  erected  they  were 
illustrations  of  the  ordinary  house  archi- 
tecture carried  to  perfection.  This  is  Mr. 
Ruskin's  theory ;  and  he  maintains  that  we 
can  never  have  good  church  architecture 
until  our  house  architecture  is  sufficiently 
noble  to  be  used  for  church  purposes. 

Now  the  architecture — if  I  may  so  speak 
— of  Mr.  Moody's  discourses  is  not  ecclesi- 
astical. Thj  windows,  and  the  doors,  and 
the  furniture,  and  the  decorations  are  of 
the  kind  with  which  we  are  familiar  in  our 
every-day  life.  He  does  not  tell  stories 
because  they  are  amusing  ;  but  if  an  amus- 
ing story  helps  him  to  make  a  truth  clearer, 
or  to  expose  a  common  mistake,  he  does 
not  refuse  to  tell  it  merely  because  it  is 
amusing.  The  common  things  of  common 
life  are  about  him  all  the  time  he  is  speak- 
ing. He  uses  the  words  of  the  home  and 
the  street :  the  plainer  they  are  the  better 
he  likes  them.  The  gowns  and  bands 
which  some  of  our  preachers  wear  are  the 
symbols  of  the  special  costume  in  which 
they  think  it  proper  to  array  religious  truth. 
Mr.  Moody  does  without  gown  or  bands, 
and  speaks  to  men  as  he  would  speak  to 
them  at  a  meeting  of  the  "  United  King- 
dom Alliance,"  or  at  a  political  meeting 
during  a  contested  election.  He  has  given 
himself  to  God,  all  that  he  has,  all  that  he 
is,  and  he  uses  every  faculty  and  resource 
of  his  nature  to  prevail  upon  men  to  hate 
sin  and  to  trust  and  love  Christ.  To  him 
nothing  is  common  or  unclean.  He  has 
humor,  and  he  uses  it ;  he  has  passion,  and 
he  uses  it ;  he  can  tell  racy  anecdotes,  and 
he  tells  them  ;  he  can  make  people  cry  as 
well  as  laugh,  and  he  does  it. 

Some  people  say  that  he  is  "  irreverent." 
If  he  is,  I  must  have  been  singularly  fortu- 
nate, for  I  have  never  heard  him  say  any- 
thing which  justifies  the  charge.  But  what 
people  seem  to  mean  is  that  he  does  not 
regard  with  religious  respect  everyone  that 
is  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  Why  should 
he .?  When  he  said  that  BartimjEus,  after 
getting  his  sight,  was  eager  to  go  home  and 
to  "  see  what  kind  of  a  looking  woman  he 
had  for  a  wife,  for  you  know  that  as  yet  he 
had  never  seen  Mrs.  Bartimaeus,"  some 
people  who  saw  the  report  in  the  news- 
papers thought  this  was  a  proof  of  the  ir- 


reverence of  which  he  is  said  to  be  guilty. 
But  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  reason 
for  speaking  reverently  either  of  Bartimseus 
or  his  wife.  As  a  matter  of  taste,  most  of 
us  would  prefer  to  describe  the  woman  as 
"  the  wife  "  of  the  blind  man ;  but  why  the 
"  Mrs."  should  be  thought  irreverent  it  is 
difficult  to  understand.  Reverence  is  due 
to  God  alone,  and  to  Him  in  whom  God  is 
manifest  in  the  flesh  ;  of  God,  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  there  was  never  a  word  which 
was  not  inspired  by  fervent  love,  perfect 
trust,  and  devout  worship.  Of  great  saints, 
good  men  will  speak  with  affection  and  re- 
spect ;  and  it  was  thus  that  Mr.  Moody 
spoke  of  them. 

There  was  something  in  his  way  of  telling 
Scripture  narratives  from  which  preachers 
may  learn  very  much.  The  Oriental 
drapery  was  stripped  off,  and  he  told  the 
stories  as  though  they  had  happened  in 
Chicago  just  before  he  had  left  home,  or 
in  Birmingham  an  hour  or  two  before  the 
service  began.  At  times  this  gave  the 
stories  a  certain  air  of  grotesqueness,  but  it 
made  the  moral  element  in  them  intensely 
real.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  making  a 
double  demand  on  our  hearers ;  we  ask 
them,  first,  to  reproduce,  by  a  strong  effort 
of  imagination,  the  Oriental  circumstances 
of  the  narratives,  and  we  then  ask  them  to 
apprehend  the  human  passions  and  follies 
and  virtues  which  the  narratives  illustrate. 
I  believe  that  they  get  so  interested  in  the 
mere  drapery  that  the  substantial  facts  are 
often  missed ;  or  else  the  enduring  human 
element  looks  so  strange  in  its  unfamiliar 
costume  that  its  power  is  lost.  I  have 
heard  men  say  that  of  late  years  the  scenery 
and  the  dresses  at  the  great  theatres  are 
wonderfully  improved,  but  that  the  acting 
is  very  inferior  to  what  it  once  was.  Mr. 
Moody  cares  nothing  for  the  scenery  and 
the  dresses.  If  he  were  a  "  manager  "  he 
might  bring  Julius  Caesar  on  to  the  stage  in 
the  uniform  of  an  American  general,  and 
Hamlet  might  put  on  his  "  Ulster  "  when 
he  was  going  out  to  meet  the  ghost,  but 
he  would  insist  on  making  the  plot  and 
passion  of  the  play  intensely  and  vividly 
real.* 

Of  the  aspect  of  the  truth  on  which  he 
dwells  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  much. 
His  great  topic  is  the  infinite  love  and 
power  of  Christ.    That  Christ  wants  to  save 

*  To  prevent  misunderstanding  it  may  be  well  to  sayl  do 
not  intend  to  suggest  that  all  preachers  ought  to  strip  off 
the  "Oriental  drapery"  from  the  Bible  stories.  Can  we 
not  keep  the  proper  drapery,"  and  yet  make  the  stories 
real  ? 


LONDON. 


33 


men,  and  can  do  it,  is  the  substance  of 
nearly  all  his  discourses.  I  asked  him, 
after  one  of  the  morning  services,  whether 
he  never  used  the  element  of  terror  in  his 
preaching  ?  He  said  that  he  did  sometimes, 
but  that  "  a  man's  heart  ought  to  be  very- 
tender  "  when  speaking  about  the  doom  of 
the  impenitent ;  that  the  manner  in  which 
some  preachers  threatened  unbelievers  with 
the  wrath  to  come,  as  though  they  had  a 
kind  of  satisfaction  in  thinking  of  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  lost,  was  to  him  very  shock- 
ing. He  added  that  in  the  course  of  his 
visit  to  a  town  he  generally  preached  one 
sermon  on  hell  and  one  on  heaven.  That 
night  he  preached  on  the  text,  "  Son,  re- 
member!" I  greatly  regret  that  I  hap- 
pened to  be  absent ;  I  should  like  to  have 
heard  how  he  dealt  with  this  difficult  sub- 
ject. As  the  readers  of  the  Congregational- 
ist  know,  I  believe  that  in  modern  preach- 
ing there  is  too  little  said  about  the  awful 
words  of  our  Lord  concerning  the  destiny 
of  those  who  resist  His  authority  and  reject 
His  salvation.  The  unwillingness  of  most 
of  us  to  speak  of  this  terrible  subject  ought 
to  suggest  very  earnest  self-examination. 
Christ's  love  for  men,  which  was  infinitely 
more  tender  than  ours,  did  not  prevent 
Him  from  speaking  of  "  the  worm  that 
dieth  not,  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched," 
and  it  is  surely  presumptuous  of  us  to  as- 
sume that  we  are  prevented  from  speaking 
of  future  punishment  by  the  depth  of  our 
sympathy  with  the  Divine  mercy. 

The  possibility  of  "  instantaneous  con- 
version "  was  one  of  the  points  on  which  he 
insisted  incessantly.  I  think  I  should  pre- 
fer to  speak  of  the  certainty  of  Christ's  im- 
mediate response  to  a  frank  trust  in  His 
love,  and  a  frank  submission  to  His  author- 
ity. These,  however,  are  only  two  ways 
of  presenting  the  same  truth  ;  and  the  vigor 
and  earnestness  with  which  he  charged  his 
hearers  to  obtain  at  once  the  pardon  of  sin 
and  power  to  break  away  from  a  sinful  life, 
were  extremely  effective. 

Almost  invariably  the  preaching  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  "after  meeting."  Cards  of 
admission  to  the  meetings  for  inquirers  had 
been  distributed  among  the  ministers  who 
co-operated  with  the  movement,  to  be  given 
by  them  to  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  whom 
they  could  entrust  the  duty  of  conversing 
with  persons  agitated  by  religious  anxiety 
and  needing  sympathy  and  advice.  The 
intention  of  this  arrangement  was  to  pre- 
vent "  inquirers "  from  being  left  in  the 
hands  of  unwise  and  incompetent  people. 


How  many  of  these  "  cards "  were  dis- 
tributed I  do  not  know ;  in  my  own  church 
I  gave  away  between  a  dozen  and  a  score, 
and  it  was  pleasant  to  me  to  see  many  of 
my  friends  at  their  work  night  after  night 
The  arrangement  broke  down.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  who  remained  for  the  "  after 
meeting  "  was  so  large  that  a  general  appeal 
had  to  be  made  again  and  again  to  Chris- 
tian people  in  the  congregation  to  give  their 
help.  Some  responded  who  had  more 
enthusiasm  than  good  sense.  But,  not- 
withstanding this,  the  results  of  the  "  after 
meeting "  were  extraordinary.  I  have 
already  spoken  of  the  number  of  persons 
with  whom  I  conversed  myself,  to  whom, 
while  I  was  conversing  with  them,  the  light 
came  which  springs  from  the  discovery  of 
God's  love  and  power,  and  from  the  accept- 
ance of  His  will  as  the  law  of  life.  Testi- 
mony after  testimony  has  reached  me  from 
"  converts  "  to  whom  the  same  light  came 
while  conversing  with  others.  "  I  went  up 
into  the  gallery,"  said  one  young  man  to 
me,  a  day  or  two  ago,  "  and  Mr.  Sankey 
walked  up  and  down  with  me,  and  talked  to 
me  as  though  he  had  been  my  own  father ; 
and  I  found  Christ." 

The  preaching  without  the  "  after  meet- 
ing "  would  not  have  accomplished  one- 
fifth  of  the  results.  It  was  in  the  quiet, 
unexciting  talk  with  individuals  that  the 
impressions  produced  by  Mr.  Moody's  ad- 
dresses issued  in  a  happy  trust  in  Christ, 
and  a  clear  decision  to  live  a  Christian  life. 
The  galleries  were  a  beautiful  sight.  Mr. 
Moody's  quaint  directions  were  almost  uni- 
versally followed :  "  Let  the  young  men 
talk  to  the  young  men,  the  maidens  to  the 
maidens,  the  elder  women  to  the  elder  wom- 
en, and  the  elder  men  to  the  elder  men." 
Cultivated  young  ladies  were  sitting  or 
standing  Avith  girls  of  their  own  age,  some- 
times with  two  or  three  together,  whose 
eager  faces  indicated  the  earnestness  of 
their  desire  to  understand  how  they  were 
to  lay  hold  of  the  great  blessing  which 
they  seemed  to  be  touching  but  could  not 
grasp.  Young  men  were  talking  to  lads — 
some  of  their  own  social  position,  others 
with  black  hands  and  rough  clothes,  which 
were  suggestive  of  gun-making  and  rolling 
mills  and  brass  foundries.  Ladies  of  re- 
finement were  trying  to  make  the  truth  clear 
to  women  whose  worn  faces  and  poor  dress 
told  of  the  hardships  of  their  daily  life. 
Men  of  business,  local  politicians,  were  at 
the  same  work  with  men  of  forty  and  fifty 
years  of  age.   And  there  was  the  brightness 


34 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


of  hope  and  faith  in  the  tone  and  manner 
and  bearing  of  nearly  all  of  them.  Chris- 
tian people  who  want  to  know  the  real  na- 
ture of  the  work  of  our  American  brethren, 
and  to  catch  its  spirit,  should  take  care  to 
spend  a  few  hours  at  the  "after  meeting." 
If  they  go  twice,  they  will  find  it  hard  to 
keep  away. 

Separate  arrangements  were  made  for 
those  of  the  young  men  who  preferred  an 
after  meeting  of  their  own.  A  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Hall  was 
thrown  open  for  them,  and  the  attendance 
was  generally  very  large. 

Mr.  Moody  does  not  approve  of  the  pub- 
lication in  newspapers  of  the  number  of 
persons  who  have  declared  that  they  have 
been  led  to  begin  a  Christian  life  as  the 
result  of  these  services,  and  I  therefore  do 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  publish  in  these  pages 
the  information  on  this  point  which  is  in 
my  possession.  A  week  after  he  had  left 
us  he  returned  to  hold  a  farewell  meeting 
for  "  converts  "  and  "  inquirers.','  Ministers 
sat  at  the  office  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  to  receive  applications  for 
tickets  from  both  these  classes  of  persons. 
In  every  case  I  believe  that  there  was  per- 
sonal conversation  with  the  applicants. 
Their  names  and  addresses  were  registered, 
and  the  congregations  with  which  they  vvere 
already  connected,  or  with  which  they  in- 
tended to  connect  themselves.  One  hun- 
dred and  twenty  names  have  been  sent  to 
me  of  persons  who  are  already  attendants  at 
Carr's  Lane,  or  who  mean  to  attend  there. 
These  include  eighty-five  professed  "  con- 
verts," and  thirty-five  persons  who  have 
been  awakened  to  religious  earnestness,  but 
who  cannot  say  that  they  have  rest  of  heart 
in  Christ.  The  large  majority  of  them,  so 
far  as  I  have  been  able  at  present  to  analyze 
the  list,  are  working  people,  and  most  of 
them  young  men  and  women.  In  some 
cases  the  young  men  told  me  that  they  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  swearing  and  using  bad 
language  up  to  the  night  when  the  truth 
came  to  them.  "And  never  since  then.?" 
I  have  asked.  They  smiled,  as  though  I 
had  asked  a  very  unnecessary  question, 
and  answered,  "  Never,  sir."  And  when  I 
talked  to  them  about  their  conduct  at  home 
to  their  parents,  and  about  their  temper,  it 
still  seemed  that  I  was  going  over  ground 
that  they  had  already  gone  over  for  them- 
selves :  "  Things  don't  put  me  about  now, 
sir,  as  they  used,"  was  the  answer  of  a 
rough  boy  of  seventeen  or  eighteen.  I 
heard  through  a  friend,  that  a  manufacturer. 


who  had  a  violent  temper,  and  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  swear  a  great  deal  at 
his  men,  was  suddenly  so  much  changed 
that  the  men  noticed  it,  and,  of  course,  in- 
ferred that  he  had  been  to  "  Moody ;  "  for 
a  whole  week  they  tried,  "  for  the  fun  of 
it,"  to  get  him  to  swear  at  them  again,  but 
failed.  I  heard  of  another  case  that  was 
very  sad.  A  poor  girl  came  to  one  of  the 
meetings  and  was  deeply  impressed;  when 
she  got  home,  her  father,  who  was  half 
drunk,  insisted  on  knowing  where  she  had 
been,  and  when  she  told  him,  he  was  in  a 
great  rage  and  violently  abused  her.  She 
bore  this  quietly,  and  went  to  bed.  The 
neighbors,  however,  got  to  know  it,  and  the 
next  morning,  as  she  went  to  work,  they 
hooted  at  her  and  chafed  her  in  the  street. 
When  she  reached  the  shop  where  she  is 
employed,  her  shopmates  "began  to  tease 
her  and  annoy  her  ;  she  bore  it  a  long  time, 
but  at  last  gave  way  and  turned  upon  them 
in  a  burst  of  passion,  and  poured  out  on 
them  a  torrent  of  curses.  The  deepest  re- 
morse came  upon  the  poor  girl,  and  she 
thought  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to 
be  recovered  from  her  fall.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  Christian  lady  who  is  caring 
for  her  told  her  of  one  who,  though  he 
denied  Christ  with  oaths  and  curses,  was 
forgiven,  and  restored  to  all  the  honors 
and  joys  of  his  Apostleship. 

The  effect  of  this  work  has  extended 
beyond  those  who  were  present  at  the  ser- 
vices ;  and  very  much  of  the  good  that 
has  been  effected  is  never  likely  to  be 
known.  Since  I  began  to  write  this  paper, 
a  son  of  one  of  the  members  of  my  own 
Church,  a  lad  of  seventeen,  came  to  me 
and  said  he  wished  to  enter  the  Church 
I  talked  to  him  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
took  for  granted  that  Mr.  Moody's  servicer 
had  led  him  to  religious  decision.  He  ha(1 
all  the  brightness  and  joyousness  which  i 
have  come  to  regard  as  characteristic  of" 
the  typical  "  Moody  convert."  I  asked 
him  which  of  the  services  had  had  the 
greatest  effect  on  him,  and  he  said  that  his 
business  engagements  had  prevented  him 
from  going  to  any  of  them.  "  How  was 
it,  then,"  I  asked,  "  that  you  came  to  trust 
in  Christ .?"  "  Well,  sir,"  he  said,  "  I  could 
not  go  to  the  meetings,  but  I  heard  a  great 
deal  of  what  these  two  gentlemen  were 
doing,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  could  not  be  doing  it  themselves,  but 
that  God  must  be  doing  it ;  and  then  I 
came  to  see  that  I  could  look  to  God  my- 
self and  get  all  the  good." 


LONDON. 


35 


Some  of  the  most  remarkable  results  of 
the  visit  of  our  American  friends  are  to 
be  found,  perhaps,  among  those  who  have 
been  long  members  of  Christian  Churches. 
1  hardly  know  how  to  describe  the  change 
which  has  passed  over  them.  It  is  like 
the  change  which  comes  upon  a  landscape 
when  clouds  which  have  been  hanging  over 
it  for  hours  suddenly  vanish,  and  the  sun- 
light seems  to  fill  both  heaven  and  earth- 
There  is  a  joyousness,  and  an  elasticity  of 
spirit,  and  a  hopefulness,  which  have  com- 
pletely transformed  them ;  and  the  trans- 
formation shows  itself  in  the  unostenta- 
tious eagerness  with  which  they  are  taking 
up  Christian  work. 

If  I  thought  it  worth  while,  I  could 
speak  of  some  things  in  this  work  which 
are  not  to  my  taste,  and  some  things  which 
my  judgment  disapproves.  But  before 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  came  to  Bir- 
-mingham,  I  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  what  was  said  of  the  early  evangelists 
at  Antioch  was  the  truest  account  of  the 
work  of  these  American  evangelists  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  "  The  hand  of  the 
Lord  was  with  them  :  and  a  great  number 
believed  and  turned  unto  the  Lord."  This 
conviction  has  been  deepened  and  con- 
firmed by  all  that  I  have  seen  of  them. 
When  Whitfield  and  Wesley  were  renewing 
the  religious  life  of  England,  there  were 
learned,  orthodox,  and  devout  ministers 
who  were  distressed  by  *'  The  Decay  of 
the  Dissenting  Interest,"  and  the  low  state 
of  religion  throughout  the  country ;  there 
were  ministers  who  had  written  pamphlets 
on  these  subjects  in  the  hope  of  reawaken- 
ing in  the  Christian  Churches  of  that  time 
the  faith  and  zeal  "of  earlier  and  better 
days,  but  who  regarded  Whitfield  and 
Wesley  with  a  distrust  like  that  with  which 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  are  now  re- 
garded by  some   excellent  people.      The 


very  objections  which  are  urged  against 
Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  were  urged 
against  the  leaders  of  the  great  Evangelical 
revival  which  saved  England  from  sinking 
into  atheism.  The  result  was  inevitable; 
these  ministers  and  their  churches  missed 
the  blessing  for  which  they  had  been  long- 
ing and  praying.  When  "  the  power  of 
God  "  is  with  men  who  preach  what  we 
acknowledge  to  be  the  great  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  it  is  surely  our  clear  duty  to  co- 
operate with  them  heartily  and  frankly.  If 
in  their  methods,  and  if  in  their  very  con- 
ception of  Christian  truth  and  the  Christian 
life,  there  are  some  things  which  we  cannot 
accept,  these  may  surely  be  borne  with 
and  even  forgotten.  Those  men  especially 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  insisting  on 
"  breadth  "  of  sympathy  with  all  in  whom 
there  is  genuine  Christian  earnestness,  and 
who  are  always  saying  that  rigid  accuracy 
in  doctrinal  definitions  is  of  inferior  impor- 
tance to  a  living  faith  in  Christ,  ought  to 
be  able  to  rise  above  the  kind  of  objections 
which  seem  likely  to  alienate  some  of  them 
from  this  work. 

It  is  possible  that  in  some  places  our 
American  visitors  may  not  achieve  the 
kind  of  success  which  has  hitherto  fol- 
lowed them.  Before  they  came  to  Birming- 
ham I  felt  very  doubtful  whether  they 
would  accomplish  here  what  they  had  ac- 
complished in  Dublin  and  Belfast.  I  be- 
lieve they  will  accomplish  very  little  in  any 
place  where  they  are  not  sustained  by  the 
hearty  sympathy  of  Christian  people,  and 
where  Christian  Churches  do  not  earnestly 
entreat  God  to  manifest  in  connection  with 
their  work  the  transcendent  greatness  of 
His  power  and  love.  There  were  people 
among  whom  our  Lord  Himself  "  could  do 
no  mighty  works,  because  of  their  unbe- 
lief." 


PROGRESS    AND    CONCLUSION 


WORK    IN    ENGLAND 


The  following  extracts  from  the  Christian  World  and  77/*?  Christian  will  serve  to  ex- 
hibit the  spirit  and  success  of  the  movement  through  the  four  months  preceding  the  de- 
parture of  the  Evangelists  to  the  United  States. 


I. 

The  American  Evangelists  are  now  near- 
ing  the  end  of  their  second  month  in  Lon- 
don. During  the  greater  part  of  April 
services  had  been  conducted  daily  in  each 
of  the  four  divisions  of  the  metropolis. 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  have  divided 
their  labors  almost  equally  between  the 
East  and  the  West  ends — officiating  at 
Her  Majesty's  Opera  House  in  the  Hay- 
market  at  the  daily  noon  prayer-meeting, 
and  also  at  an  afternoon  Bible  reading, 
while  in  the  evening  they  have  generally 
been  present  at  the  service  in  the  Bow-road 
Hall.  On  two  evenings  of  each  week  they 
have  returned  to  the  Agricultural  Hall  in 
Islington.  The  first  week  after  their  de- 
parture from  that  hall  the  services  there 
were  conducted  by  Rev.  William  Taylor, 
of  California  ;  but  the  attendance  instantly 
dropped  from  12,000  to  2,000,  and  sank  to 
as  low  as  1,000  before  the  week  was  done.  In 
the  second  week  Mr.  Taylor  was  succeed- 
ed by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  M.  Aitken  (Episco- 
palian), of  Liverpool,  who  secured  much 
larger  congregations,  there  being  occasion- 
ally as  many  as  5,000  and  6,000  present  to 
hear  him  ;  and  at  the  Victoria  Theatre,  on 
the  South  side,  Mr.  Taylor  held  daily  meet- 
ings, where  his  labors  would  apj^ear  to  be 
better  aj^preciated  than  they  were  at  Isling- 
ton. The  prayer-meeting  at  the  Opera 
House  has  not  been  so  well  attended,  on 
the  whole,  as  that  at  Exeter  Hall  ;  but  the 
Bible  readings  have  attracted  great  congre- 
gations, these  including  many  members  of 
fashionable  society,  led  by  Her  Royal 
Highness  the  Princess  of  Wales,  who  was 
present  on  Thursday,  April  15.  In  an 
article  on  "The  American  Revivalists  in 
England,"  the  New  York  hidependcnt  says  : 
"  We  presume  that  the  aristocracy  and  the 
literati  will  scarce  hear  of  the  movement 
that  is  about  them.     It  is  an  after  genera- 


tion that  builds  the  monuments  of  the 
prophets.  Bunyan  got  no  words  of  honor 
from  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  whose  descend- 
ant has  lately  set  up  his  statue."  Several 
months  before  these  words  were  written, 
Mr.  Moody  had  sojourned  as  a  guest  with- 
in the  walls  of  Dunrobin  Castle,  the  north- 
ern seat  of  the  Duke  of  Sutherland ;  and 
weeks  before  he  had  dined  with  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England,  at  Bournemouth. 
At  his  first  meeting  in  the  Agricultural 
Hall  he  was  assisted  by  a  peer  of  the  realm, 
and  other  noblemen  took  part  in  subse- 
quent gatherings,  while  Lord  Cairns,  the 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and  many  other  mem- 
bers of  the  aristocracy  formed  part  of  his 
audience.  The  favor  with  which  his  labors 
are  regarded  by  a  large  section  of  the  no- 
bility has  been  still  more  conspicuously  dis- 
played since  the  opening  of  the  services  in 
the  Haymarket,  and  especially  since  the 
visit  paid  by  the  Princess  of  Wales.  Stand- 
ing somewhat  in  the  same  relation  to  Mr. 
Moody  that  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon 
did  to  Whitefield,  her  Grace  the  Duchess 
of  Sutherland  has  been  well-nigh  a  daily 
attender,  accompanied  sometimes  by  her 
daughter  and  Lady  Constance  Leveson- 
Gower.  Twice  last  week  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  St.  Albans  were  seen  in  the 
royal  box,  the  Prince  Teck  has  also  been 
present,  and  so  have  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Marlborough,  the  Countess  of  Gains- 
borough, Lady  Dudley,  Lord  and  Lady 
Rendlesham  (the  latter  a  daughter  of  the 
late  popular  Earl  of  Eglington),  and  many 
more  of  the  "  upper  ten  thousand."  To 
crown  all,  it  is  alleged,  not  only  that  Lord 
Dudley  interested  himself  in  securing  the 
Opera  House  for  the  American  Evangelists, 
but  that  his  lordship  was  encouraged  to  do 
this  by  no  less  a  personage  than  the  Heir- 
Apparent.  Dr.  Donald  Eraser  and  Mr. 
Newman  Hall  have  preached  to  excellent 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


37 


congregation!;  at  the  Opera  House  ;  but 
when  Mr.  Moody's  place  at  the  Bow-road 
Hall  was  taken  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Howie,  a 
Free  Church  minister  from  Glasgow,  and  a 
powerful  preacher,  the  congregations  in- 
stantly melted  away.  The  young  men's 
nightly  meeting  at  St.  Mary's  Hall,  Isling- 
ton, was  conducted  until  the  end  of  last 
week  by  Mr.  Henry  Drummond,  a  nephew 
of  the  founder  of  the  Stirling  Tract  Enter- 
prise ;  and  a  pleasant  feature  of  tHe  work 
at  the  East-end  has  been  the  giving  of  a 
comfortable  meal  on  the  Sundays  to  many 
hundreds  of  poor  people,  brought  together 
by  young  men  visitors,  assisted  by  some 
devoted  ladies  from  Glasgow. 


THE  LAST  DAYS. 


II. 

NOON  MEETINGS,  VICTORIA 
THEATRE. 

Tuesday.,  July  6. — To-day's  meeting  was 
of  very  varied  and  absorbing  interest. 

Mr.  Denny  presented  254  requests  for 
prayer  for  relations,  friends  and  places,  in- 
cluding thirty  by  persons  for  themselves. 

Mr.  Moody's  address  was  on  "Obedi- 
ence." He  showed  how  this  was  the  rock 
on  which  man  originally  fell,  and  it  was  by 
obedience  only  that  man  was  restored.  He' 
contrasted  the  two  Sauls  of  the  Bible.  The 
Saul  of  the  Old  Testament  was  disobedient 
to  God's  command,  and  he  lost  his  crown, 
his  kingdom,  his  family,  the  friendship  and 
counsel  of  Samuel,  God's  favor,  and,  at  last, 
his  life.  The  Saul  of  the  New  Testament, 
on  the  other  hand,  by  obedience,  gained 
more  than  the  disobedient  Saul  ever  lost. 
What  a  happy  city  London  would  be  if 
everyone  in  it  would  obey  God !  From  the 
exclusion  of  Moses  from  the  promised  land, 
on  account  of  his  disobeying  God's  com- 
mand, he  read  a  solemn  lesson  to  Christians 
to  beware  of  this  sin  of  disobedience,  and 
also  addressed  some  words  of  warning  to 
parents  concerning  the  effects  on  their  chil- 
dren of  neglecting  to  train  them  to  obey 
God's  commands. 

A  young  convert,  on  the  platform,  gave 
some  testimony  that  was  very  indistinctly 
heard  by  the  audience.  Mr.  Sankey  prayed 
that  he  might  have  courage  to  confess  Christ 
and  work  for  Him.  He  also  offered  prayer 
for  friends  who  had  come  to  the  meetings 
from  the  country. 

Rev.  T.  Richardson  read  a  letter  from  a 
man  who  was  converted  in  Bow-road  Hall 
a  fortnight  ago,  and  who  was  now  rejoicing 


in  the  conversion  of  his  wife  through  his  in 
strumentality.  Mr.  Richardson  had  read  the 
letter,  he  said,  at  his  own  church  last  Sun- 
day, and  this  was  the  means  of  stirring  up 
one  of  his  congregation  to  speak  to  his  wife 
about  salvation,  which  ended  also  in  her 
conversion.  The  husband  himself  related 
the  circumstance  to  Mr.  Richardson  on 
Sunday  evening,  at  the  after-meeting,  and 
there,  before  the  assembled  congregation, 
the  family  altar  in  that  household  was  set 
up.  Mr.  Richardson  urged  converted 
husbands  to  speak  to  their  wives.  "  Be- 
heve  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved  and  thy  Jwjtse." 

A  gentleman  requested  special  prayer 
for  India  and  for  the  Lodiana  Mission.  He 
said  the  proportion  of  laborers  in  that  vast 
country  was  something  like  what  it  would 
be  if  we  had  eight  foreigners  laboring  for 
the  conversion  of  London.  At  Mr.  Moody's 
request,  silent  prayer  was  offered  for  India. 

Dr.  Ziemann,  of  Manchester,  had  a  very 
thrilling  story  to  tell  of  the  wonderful  work- 
ings of  God  in  Manchester  during  the  past 
six  months. 

In  speaking  of  the  difficulties  encountered 
in  getting  a  site  for  the  tent,  he  said  that, 
when  all  their  efforts  had  failed,  they  laid 
the  matter  before  the  Lord  at  one  of  the 
noon  prayer-meetings.  That  afternoon 
they  received  a  letter  from  some  solicitors, 
stating  that  if  a  large  sum  of  money  were 
given  they  might  get  a  temporary  site.  Dr. 
Ziemann  sent  a  messenger  to  the  solicitors, 
with  instructions  to  get  the  ground  at  the 
best  possible  terms.  He  returned  with  the 
joyful  tidings  that  he  had  got  a  site.  When  he 
went  to  the  solicitors,  the  owner  of  the 
ground  happened  to  be  there.  Hearing 
what  the  messenger  said,  he  asked  what 
was  to  be  done  with  the  tent.  The  reply  was 
given  that  it  was  wanting  for  meetings.  Re- 
vival meetings  ?  Yes.  The  owner  rejoined 
that  he  had  just  come  from  London,  where 
he  had  attended  Mr.  Moody's  meetings, 
and  had  liked  them  very  much.  He  added, 
"  If  you  are  going  to  have  Moody's  meet- 
ings, you  are  quite  welcome  to  the  place 
without  money  and  without  price.  I  have 
another  place  in  the  town  ;  if  you  like,  you 
can  have  it  too,  and  I  will  level  it  without 
any  expense."  Last  Sunday  the  tent  was 
opened,  and  not  only  was  it  crowded  three 
times,  but  hundreds  of  people  could  not 
get  in,  and  there  were  a  great  many  in- 
quirers. 

Dr.  Ziemann  also  told  the  following  strik- 
ing circumstance.       One    evening,    some 


ss 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


months  ago,  he  was  going  to  the  meeting 
in  the  Museum,  when  he  saw  a  man  stand- 
ing at  the  door,  apparently  hesitating  as  to 
whether  he  should  enter.  He  was  invited 
in  and  took  his  seat  in  a  corner.  Dr. 
Ziemann  was  guided  to  speak  about  men 
])rofessing  themselves  to  be  wise  and  becom- 
iiig  fools.  He  had  been  visiting  the  prison, 
and  if  any  one  wanted  to  know  the  truth  of 
these  words,  let  them  go  to  the  prison,  and 
ask  of  those  who  are  there.  The  man  in 
the  corner  burst  out,  "That's  true,  that's 
true  !"  At  first  it  was  thought  he  was  go- 
ing to  make  a  disturbance,  but  they  soon 
saw  he  was  in  earnest.  The  fact  was,  he 
had  come  that  evening  direct  from  Millbank, 
where  he  had  been  in  prison  seven  years. 
He  had  come  to  Manchester  with  his  little 
bundle,  and  the  Lord  led  him  to  that  meet- 
ing, where  he  was  converted  that  night. 
The  returned  convict  became  a  son  of  God. 
Next  morning  he  said  he  was  going  home 
to  his  mother,  whom  he  had  not  seen  for 
long  years,  and  instead  of  taking  with  him 
his  ticket  of  leave,  he  was  going  with  his 
Bible  to  tell  her  he  was  now  a  saved  and 
happy  man. 

Mr.  Sankey  sang,  to  gratify  the  wish  of  a 
little  invalid  girl  who  was  present,  "  Knock- 
ing, knocking." 

The  Rev.  Newman  Hall  related  a  very 
beautiful  incident  of  a  stray,  starving  lamb 
he  found  in  his  travels  on  the  Westmore- 
land hills,  and  which  he,  after  ineffectual 
attempts  to  find  its  mother,  handed  over 
to  the  tender  care  of  the  strong,  stalwart 
farmer  with  whom  he  was  staying.  Some 
time  after,  on  revisiting  the  place,  he  found 
the  half-starved  lamb  had  become  one  of 
the  stoutest  and  fattest  of  the  flock.  His 
description  of  the  lamb  and  its  bleating 
voice,  that  seemed  to  say,  "  Pity  me,  help 
me,  save  me,"  was  very  touching,  and  the 
application  of  the  story  most  appropriate. 

Wednesday^  July  7. — At  the  meeting 
this  day,  Mr.  Sankey  sang  two  fresh  solos, 
one  of  them  asking  in  the  refrain,  ''Who  is 
on  the  Lord's  side?"  and  the  other,  a  very 
sweet  and  soothing  song,  commencing — 

"  I  need  Thee  every  hour, 
My  gracious  Lord, 
No  tender  voice  like  Thine 
Can  peace  afibrd." 

Mr.  Henry  Varley  gave  the  address  from 
the  story  of  the  man  with  the  withered  hand 
whom  Christ  cured  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Mr. 
Varley,  in  condemning  the  conduct  of  the 
Pharisees,    who    "watched"    the    Saviour 


that  they  might  find  occasion  against  Him, 
was  very  severe  on  those  hearers  who  go  to 
church  or  meeting,  not  to  catch  souls  for 
Christ,  but  to  catch  some  stray  word  of  the 
])reacher  that  might  afford  them  the  oppor- 
tunity for  criticism.  He  also  dwelt  on  the 
power  of  Christ,  as  set  forth  in  this  passage,' 
to  give  a  i)resent  blessing  to  all  who  really 
feel  their  need  and  seek  relief. 

Mr.  Paton  gave  some  interesting  ex- 
tracts "from  letters,  and  the  bulk  of  the 
second  half-hour  was  spent  in  earnest 
prayer  that  the  closing  services  of  the  Evan- 
gelist.s  might  be  signally  instrumental  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners. 

Thursday,  July  8. — Mr.  Moody's  address 
to-day  was  an  exposition  of  the  Christian 
life  as  portrayed  in  Scripture  under  the 
figure  of  water.  He  quoted  a  number  of 
passages  setting  forth  the  fulness  of  blessing 
treasured  up  in  Christ,  who  is  both  the 
bread  and  the  water  of  life.  One  reason 
why  we  do  not  get  more  of  the  water  of 
life  is  because  we  do  not  thirst  for  it.  It 
would  be  a  good  thing  to  have  a  meeting 
for  dissatisfied  Christians — dissatisfied,  not 
with  Christ,  but  with  themselves. 

Mr.  Sankey  spoke  of  having  recently 
been  up  the  Thames  with  some  friends,  and 
he  noticed  as  the  tide  flowed  in  how  it 
covered  up  a  great  many  unseemly  places, 
and  when  it  was  full,  how  the  water  came 
up  to  the  very  brink  of  the  land.  There 
was  the  beautiful  landscape  to  be  seen, 
with  the  flowers  along  the  shore,  and  the 
whole  scene  looked  so  sweet  and  lovely,  1 
thought  how  impossible  it  would  be  for  man 
ever  to  make  this  tide  to  flow  in.  So  when 
the  water  of  life  flows  into  our  hearts,  how 
the  things  that  are  unseemly  are  covered 
up,  and  how  it  cleanses  and  beautifies  our 
natures.  He  thanked  God  for  the  tide  of 
blessing  that  had  been  flowing  through  the 
land  and  into  the  hearts  of  God's  children. 
How  many  hearts  had  been  flooded  with 
God's  love,  and  vA'ere  to-day  feeling  how 
gracious  the  Lord  is.  Do  not  let  us  try  to 
make  the  tide  flow,  but  let  us  lie  low  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  and  say,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
into  this  heart  of  mine."  Mr.  Sankey  then 
sang  one  of  his  new  hymns — 

"  It  passeth  knowledge,  that  dear  love  of  Thine." 

There  is  a  certain  stateliness  and  majesty 
in  the  melody,  especially  in  the  crescendo 
passage  in  the  fourth  line,  that  interprets 
well  the  reverential  tone  of  the  hymn. 

Friday,  July  9. — The  last   meeting   in 


CONCL  USION  OF  THE   WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


39 


this  theatre  where  the  famiHar  voices  ofoiir 
brethren  should  be  heard.  The  spacious 
building  was  crowded  by  twelve  o'clock — 
stage,  boxes,  pit,  upper  circle  and  gallery. 
We  were  reminded  of  the  closing  meeting 
at  the  Opera  House.  On  the  stage  were  a 
large  number  of  those  who  have  been 
prominent  workers  at  these  evangelistic 
services. 

The  meeting  opened  with  the  hymn, 
"  Tell  me  the  old,  old  story,"  one  of  the 
most  precious,  and,  at  the  same  time,  one 
of  the  most  popular  in  Mr.  Sankey's  collec- 
tion. 

Among  the  requests  for  prayer,  classified 
and  read  by  Mr.  Denny,  there  were  many 
of  touching  significance.  A  large  list  of 
requests  for  praise,  for  various  blessings 
experienced  through  the  services,  were  also 
presented. 

Mr.  Moody  said  that,  when  he  first  came 
to  this  country,  they  had  a  little  meeting 
one  day  at  twelve  o'clock,  at  165  Alders- 
gate  street,  and  he  was  led  to  take  for  his 
subject  '*The  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  That 
subject  had  been  agitating  his  mind  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  believed  it  was  the 
privilege  of  every  child  of  God  to  be  filled 
with  the  Spirit ;  if  they  were  not,  it  was 
their  fault.  If  he  should  ask  all  to  rise  up 
in  the  meeting  who  were  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  he  did  not  think  any  one  would  dare 
to  stand  up  ;  they  were  all  living  beneath 
their  privileges.  In  Matthew  xv.  18  it  says, 
"  Be  not  drunk  with  wine  wherein  is  excess, 
but  beyf/A'r/ with  the  Spirit."  A  great  many 
Christians  were  satisfied  with  the  bare  life 
they  received  at  Calvary.  That  was  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  receiving  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  for  service.  He  believed  this 
gift  the  Church  had  lost  sight  of  and  mis- 
laid. He  quoted  various  passages  to  show 
further  that  the  Apostles  and  early  disciples 
received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on 
several  occasions,  both  before  and  after 
Christ's  death.  Many  Christians,  he  said, 
seemed  to  think  that  they  could  receive 
power  at  one  time  that  would  last  them  all 
their  life.  But  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a 
constant  anointing.  He  believed  ^it  was 
right  to  pray  that  the  Holy  Ghost  should 
come  on  us.  The  grace  that  God  gave 
them  in  order  to  do  his  work  in  Liverpool 
did  not  suffice  for  the  work  in  London. 
And  if  they  were  to  attempt  to  go  back  to 
America,  and  work  for  God  there  on  the 
grace  God  had  given  them  here,  they  would 
very  soon  break  down.     If  they  were  filled 


with  the  Spirit,  there  would  be;  no  room  for 
the  devil,  for  self,  for  pride,  or  darkness.  It 
would  be  all  light,  and  peace,  and  joy — the 
fruits  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  May  the  jMayer 
of  every  heart  to-day  be  to  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost.  If  we  were  filled  with 
the  Spirit,  we  would  Have  a  hundred  times 
more  influence  in  this  dark  world  than  we 
have.  Instead  of  getting  up  and  talking  so 
that  people  were  glad  when  we  sat  down, 
we  would  have  something  fresh  to  say.  One 
hour's  work  would  tell  more  than  a  whole 
day  of  service  without  the  filling  of  the 
Spirit.  He  thought  Christians  would  not 
lose  much  by  going  into  the  desert  for  a 
few  days,  and  get  there  a  fresh  anointing 
for  the  work  that  lay  before  them.  The 
Church  wanted  nothing  so  much  as  Holy 
Ghost  power.  Some  people  could  not  get 
on  without  having  men's  hands  laid  on 
them.  If  he  was  sure  who  were  the  un- 
doubted successors  of  the  Apostles,  he 
might  not  object  to  having  their  hands  laid 
on  him  ;  but  they  could  all  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost  from  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Let  us  pray  that  the  Holy  Ghost  may  fill 
every  one  of  us  and  qualify  us  for  God's 
service.  He  engaged  in  very  earnest  prayer 
that  thousands  might  be  brought  to  Christ 
through  their  closing  services,  and  thanked 
God  for  all  the  blessings  and  successful 
services  of  the  past. 

Mr.  Sankey  sang  the  appropriate  hymn, 
"I  need  Thee  every  hour  ;"  and  followed  in 
prayer. 

Dr.  Andrew  Bonar,  of  Glasgow,  quoted 
the  verse,  "  To  Him  that  is  able  to  do  ex- 
ceeding abundantly  above  all  that  we  can 
ask  or  think."  He  said  the  showers  that 
had  brought  this  year's  harvest  to  maturity 
would  not  do  for  next  year.  So  it  was  with 
us  in  our  Christian  life  ;  even  if  we  have 
received  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  must  come  to 
be  filled  with  it  again  and  again.  That  was 
the  root  of  the  whole  matter.  In  the  Old 
Testament  we  have  some  very  remarkable 
lessons  as  to  God's  people  needing  constant 
renewal  of  strength.  There  was  Jonathan, 
who,  with  his  armor-bearer,  could  put  a 
whole  army  to  flight,  and  yet,  when  one 
man  came  out  and  challenged  the  army  of 
Israel,  Jonathan  did  not  dare  to  meet  him. 
And  David  himself,  who  slew  a  lion  and 
gained  victory  over  the  giant  of  Gath,  in 
the  latter  years  of  his  life  was  almost  killed 
by  a  brother  of  Goliath's.  He  came  upon 
him  with  his  sword,  and  if  it  had  not  been 
for  one  of  David's  captain.s,  he  would  have 
been  killed  by  the  brother  of  the  giant  he 


40 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


had  slain.  So  we  need  fresh  grace.  I-.et 
us  go  back  to  the  verse,  "  To  Him  that  is 
able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly,  above  all 
that  we  can  ask  or  think."  Let  us  be 
ashamed  of  our  little  faith  and  expectations. 
It  would  be  an  interesting  study  to  look  up 
all  the  jilaces  in  the  liible  where  God's  peo- 
ple asked  for  something  and  (lodgave  them 
a  great  deal.  The  prodigal  son  was  a 
notable  instance.  He  wanted  to  be  a  ser- 
vant, but  there  were  the  best  robe,  the  ring, 
the  shoe,  the  fatted  calf — everything.  "To 
Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think,  to  him 
be  glory  in  the  Church,  world  without  end, 
amen." 

After  silent  petition,  Mr.  Varley  offered 
the  closing  prayer,  and  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey's  meetings  in  Victoria  Theatre  end- 
ed with  the  Doxology  and  the  Benediction. 


III. 

CAMBERWELL-GREEN  HALL. 

We  find  it  difficult  to  realize  that  we  are 
called  upon  to  chronicle  the  closing  services 
of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  in  this 
country.  By  their  self-denying  labors  for 
the  evangelization  of  our  fellow-countrymen 
and  women,  they  have  endeared  themselves 
to  every  honest,  loving  Christian  heart,  and 
their  long  stay  of  two  years  in  our  midst  has 
almost  made  us  look  upon  them  as  two  of 
ourselves  ;  we  have  well-nigh  lost  sight  of 
the  fact  that  they  came  to  us  from  across 
the  sea,  and  we  have,  as  a  consequence, 
not  been  disposed  to  dwell  upon  the  other 
fact  that  they  must  needs  return  to  their 
own  kindred  and  their  own  land.  We  find 
it  hard  to  use  the  language  of  Job,  and 
say,  "  The  Lord  gave ;  the  Lord  taketh 
away,  and  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
But  facts  are  stubborn  things,  however  un- 
welcome they  may  be  ;  and  the  fact  that, 
before  these  lines  are  read,  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey's  public  labors  in  Great  Britain 
will  have  ended,  only  reminds  us  of  the  on- 
ward march  of  time,  and  the  coming  end  of 
all  things.  Well,  we  suppose  we  must  ac- 
cept the  inevitable,  and  in  the  midst  of  our 
sincere  sorrow  at  being  severed  from  those 
whose  names  have  become,  and  will  ever 
remain,  household  words  in  our  mouths,  and 
who  have  been  used  of  the  Lord  to  do  such 
great  things  for  us,  we  will  seek  to  comfort 
ourselves  with  the  thought  that  the  parting 
is  not  a  final  one,  and  also  with  the  blessed 
assurance  that  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  re- 


mains with  us,  however  His  servants  rnay 
come  and  go.  Still,  no  words  of  ours  can 
tell  the  heartfelt  sorrow  that  clouds  this 
parting  hour,  and  we  will  not  seek  to  con- 
ceal it.  When  we  have  sometimes  felt 
bodily  weariness  in  the  congenial  task  of  at- 
tending so  many  meetings,  and  telling  out 
to  our  readers  the  goodness  of  (iod  as  we 
have  witnessed  His  saving  power  in  the  great 
congregations,  day  after  day  and  week  after 
week,  we  have  been  re-invigorated  by  the 
remembrance  of  how  our  American  brethren 
have  stood  the  strain  of  two  years'  inces- 
sant toil  without  the  thought  almost  of  per- 
sonal rest  or  ease.  What  an  example  of 
persistent,  devoted,  loving  service  these 
friends  have  set  us.  It  is  one,  unhappily, 
that  we  are  slow  to  imitate.  Would  it  were 
otherwise  ! 

But  we  must  cut  short  these  reflections 
in  order  to  give  our  readers  some  brief  ac- 
count of  the  services  that  have  closed  up 
the  four  months  mission  in  London.  As 
may  be  supposed,  there  has  been  intense 
anxiety  shown  to  attend  the  services  of  the 
last  week.  Many  of  our  country  brethren 
and  sisters  having  hoped  against  hope  that 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  would  pay  their 
respective  districts  a  visit,  and  having  seen 
this  hope  flicker  and  vanish,  as  a  last  re- 
source have  come  to  London  specially  to 
attend  the  meetings.  Many,  if  not  most, 
have  come  just  to  see  and  hear  our  two 
friends  ;  but  we  are  assured  that  not  a  few 
of  them  have  had  the  eyes  of  their  under- 
standing opened,  and  have  seen  Jesus  as 
the  Saviour  they  needed.  We  have  heard 
of  some  who  have  come  up  from  their 
homes  with  a  heavy  heart  and  sin-burdened 
conscience,  and  have  returned  to  their 
homes  justified  and  rejoicing  in  a  Saviour's 
love  and  pardon.  We  hoj^e  there  have 
been  many  such  from  among  the  crowds  of 
strangers  who  have  every  evening  found 
their  way  to  Camberwell  Hall. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  the  meetings  in 
the  South  have  proved,  to  all  appearance, 
as  fruitful  as  in  any  other  part  of  London. 
The  last  week  has,  we  believe,  sustained 
the  promise  of  those  that  went  before.  In- 
variably at  the  close  both  of  Mr.  Moody's 
Bible  readings  and  Gospel  addresses,  the 
searching  power  of  the  Word  has  been 
made  manifest  in  large  numbers  who  stood 
up  for  prayer,  and  afterwards  flocked  into 
the  inquiry-rooms,  to  seek  and  receive 
counsel  and  direction  from  those  who,  hav- 
ing found  Christ  to  be  precious  to  them, 
could  say,  "  Come  thou  with  us  and  we  will 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


41 


do  thee  good,"  We  have  heard  of  many 
promising  and  decided  cases  of  conversion, 
but  the  Lord  alone  can  register  the  number 
of  those  who  have  been  saved  at  these 
closing  week-day  meetings  by  faith  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

Time  and  space  would  fail  us  to  tell  of 
the  deep  impressions  made  by  the  singing 
of  Mr.  Sankey,  and  how  hearts  that  were 
frozen  and  sealed  against  the  Saviour's  love 
have  been  melted  into  submission  by  some 
tender  message  of  mercy  wafted  to  them  on 
the  unseen  wings  of  sweet  song,  the  way 
being  thus  paved  for  the  reception  of  the 
Gospel  more  fully  delivered  by  the  voice  of 
the  preacher.  When  the  history  of  this 
movement  conies  to  be  written  by  com- 
petent hands,  we  doubt  not  full  justice  will 
be  done  to  the  part  Mr.  Sankey  has,  in 
God's  good  providence,  been  enabled  to 
play  in  this  most  blessed  work  of  pointing 
sinners  to  Christ.  In  his  hymn-book  he 
has  left  us  a  legacy,  the  value  of  which,  we 
believe,  will  never  be  exhausted,  as  long  as 
there  is  a  single  singing  pilgrim  left  in  this 
vale  of  shadow  and  of  tears.  During  the 
closing  days  of  the  week,  Mr.  Sankey  has 
afforded  us  the  opportunity  of  hearing  many 
songs  till  now  unknown  to  the  Christians  of 
this  land.  Amongst  those  recently  com- 
posed by  himself,  the  one  that  has  gained 
the  firraest  place  in  popular  favor  is,  "  I  am 
praying  for  you,"  and  we  think  deservedly 
so.  Mr.  Sankey,  we  believe,  has  used  it 
largely  as  a  letter-leaflet,  and  we  cannot 
think  of  a  better.  We  hope  this  hymn,  now 
popularized  by  his  sweet  melody,  may  speak 
for  the  Master  to  many  a  heart. 

Mr.  Moody's  closing  Bible  reading  on 
Friday  afternoon  was  on  the  word  "Able," 
and  specially  suited  to  confirm  the  faith  and 
courage  of  the  young  converts,  though  use- 
ful for  all.  Towards  the  end,  Mr.  Moody 
referred  to  the  fact  that  it  was  his  last  Bible 
lecture  in  London,  and  thanked  the  people 
for  coming  out  day  after  day.  Nothing  had 
encouraged  him  so  much  during  the  past 
two  years  as  having  the  people  come  to 
those  Bible  readings.  He  had  seen  so  many 
Christians  with  a  better  knowledge  of 
Scripture  than  himself  come,  that  he  had 
wondered  they  came  at  all ;  but  it  had  en- 
couraged him  to  study  the  Word  of  God 
more.  He  had  one  request  to  make,  one 
favor  to  ask — that  they  would  pray  God  to 
bless  them  both,  that  they  might  know 
more  and  more  of  His  love,  and  more  and 
more  of  His  blessed  truth.  He  had  been 
for  two  years  constantly  unable  to  study 


much,  and  he  felt  great  leanness  of  .soul. 
He  felt  as  if  he  would  like  to  go  into  the 
desert,  and  when  he  was  gone  he  hoped 
they  would  pray  for  him.  He  did  not  know 
what  they  would  have  done  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  prayers  of  God's  people  ;  for 
if  they  had  come  to  criticize,  as  some  had 
come  to  do,  the  whole  mission  must  have 
failed.  Of  one  thing  their  friends  in  this 
country  might  rest  assured,  they  would  be 
praying  for  them  ;  they  had  become  very 
dear  to  each  other.  Let  them  pray  God  to 
increase  their  love  for  Him,  and  their  pas- 
sion for  souls.  He  finally  made  a  very 
affectionate  appeal  to  all  who  were  out  of 
Christ  to  come  to  Him  without  delay.  The 
whole  meeting  was  deeply  moved,  and  many 
shed  tears  as  Mr.  Moody  spoke  of  their  de- 
parture. A  number  rose  to  be  prayed  for, 
and  afterwards  were  conversed  with  in  the 
inquiry-rooms. 

The  evening  address  was  on  the  Ark,  and 
gave  Mr.  Moody  another  opportunity  of  en- 
treating sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  by  taking  refuge  in  the  Ark  of  Safety 
— Christ  Jesus. 

The  gentleman  who  offered  the  closing 
prayer  committed  our  brethren  to  God's 
care  while  on  their  homeward  voyage,  and 
prayed  that  great  blessings  might  attend 
their  labors  in  their  native  land. 

Sunday,  July  11. — Last  Day. — How 
shall  we  write  of  it  ?  Fresh  from  the  meet- 
ing in  the  evening,  we  feel  how  inadequate 
are  human  words  to  portray  that  most 
marvelous  close  of  a  no  less  marvelous 
season  of  revival  throughout  our  land. 

The  doors  for  the  morning  service  were 
opened  at  half-past  six,  and  by  seven  o'clock 
the  Hall  was  comfortably  full.  An  hour 
yet  intervened  before  the  commencement 
of  the  service,  and  the  time  was  profitably 
and  pleasantly  occupied  with  a  service  of 
song  from  the  familiar  book.  About  half- 
past  seven  it  was  announced  that  there  were 
thousands  outside,  some  of  them  from  a 
great  distance,  and  if  the  audience  would 
kindly  sit  more  closely,  a  few  hundreds 
more  might  be  got  in.  The  request  was 
good-naturedly  complied  with  at  once,  and 
room  made  for  a  few  more.  For  the  great 
numbers  who  were  unable  to  get  admission,, 
an  overflow-meeting  was  held  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church  close  by,  and  was  addressed 
by  Dr.  A.  Bonar,  of  Glasgow. 

Shortly  before  eight  o'clock  Mr.  Sankey 
appeared,  and  delighted  the  audience  with 
a  few  solos.  Before  singing  *'  I  am  praying, 
for  you,"  he  said  he  hoped  in  the  days  to 


42 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


come,  they  would  not  forget  to  pray  for  Mr. 
Moody  and  himself  when  they  were  gone. 

In  Consequence  of  the  crowd  at  the  gates, 
Mr.  Moody  could  not  gain  an  entrance, 
and  had  to  be  conveyed  through  a  private 
house  opening  from  the  back  upon  the  site 
of  the  building.  This  delayed  the  open- 
ing of  the  service  till  about  ten  minutes  past 
eight  o'clock — a  thing  altogether  unusual  at 
these  gatherings,  as  one  of  the  most  notice- 
able features  of  them  has  been  the  punctu- 
ality observed  by  our  brethren. 

Mr.  Sankey  having  sung  "Only  an  Armor- 
bearer,"  the  audience  swelling  out  in  the 
chorus,  very  earnest  prayer  was  offered, 
making  special  reference  to  the  occasion. 

]\[r.  Moody  then  delivered  his  well-known 
address  on  "  Daniel,"  beginning  with  the 
secret  of  his  wonderful  success^  which  he 
attributed  to  his  being  able  to  say  "  No  "  at 
the  right  moment.  He  sketched  the  event- 
ful career  of  this  man,  "  beloved  of  God," 
through  the  reigns  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Belshazzar,  and  Darius,  showing  how  he 
was  delivered  from  all  the  many  snares  laid 
for  him  by  his  enemies,  because  he  was 
faithful  to  God  and  His  commandments. 
The  history  of  Daniel  in  the  telling  of  it 
rouses  Mr.  Moody's  enthusiasm,  which  he 
succeeds  in  a  large  degree  in  imparting  to 
the  audience,  and  many  thousands  of  hearts 
were  stirred  by  this  closing  address  to 
Christian  workers.  Before  parting  we  sang 
with  Mr.  Sankey  "  Dare  to  be  a  Daniel." 

The  afternoon  service  for  women  was  a 
deeply  interesting  one,  both  in  itself  and 
from  the  fact  of  its  being  the  last  of  them. 
The  hall  was  crammed  in  every  corner. 
The  opening  hymn  was  "  Yet  there  is  room," 
very  appropriate  to  the  occasion.       ' 

AH  through  his  mission  in  Great  Britain, 
Mr.  Moody  has  striven  to  make  the  Gospel 
so  plain  as  to  be  understood  by  the  meanest 
comprehension.  He  has  avoided  collateral 
issues,  and  eschewed  theological  discussions 
— and  held  to  the  proclamation  of  the  good 
news  of  salvation  through  faith  in  a  cruci- 
fied and  risen  Saviour.  One  of  his  favorite 
texts  has  been  the  question  of  the  gaoler, 
*'  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  and  this 
he  chose  for  his  final  gospel  addresses  to 
London  audiences.  Many  people,  he  said, 
still  disbelieved  in  sudden  conversion,  and 
he  proceeded  to  draw  from  the  treasury  of 
Holy  Scripture  numeious  illustrations  to 
show  that  the  new  birth  is,  of  necessity,  an 
instantaneous  act,  and  not  a  gradual  change. 
He  quoted  the  Ark,  the  salvation  of  Lot 
from  Sodom,  the  preservation  of  the  chil- 


dren of  Israel  in  Egypt  by  sprinkling  the 
blood  on  their  doors,  the  cities  of  refuge, 
and  others,  as  well  as  illustrations  from 
history  and  from  daily  life.  At  the  close  he 
spoke,  with  much  emotion,  of  hov/  he  had 
tried  in  all  possible  ways  to  allure  sinners 
to  Christ,  and  entreated  those  present  not 
to  go  out  of  the  building  without  receiving 
Christ  as  their  Saviour.  They  might  never 
hear  his  and  Mr.  Sankey's  voice  again  on 
earth,  but  he  hoped  there  would  not  be  one 
missing  at  the  last  great  meeting.  Many 
rose  in  response  to  his  pressing  appeal  at 
the  close,  and  the  inquiry-rooms  were  after- 
wards the  scene  of  much  earnest  conversa- 
tion and  prayer  with  the  crowds  of  anxious 
sisters.  The  evening  meeting  for  men  was 
almost  filled  before  the  last  of  the  inquirers 
and  workers  had  left  the  building. 

The  last  meeting  of  all  will,  we  think,  be 
reckoned,  by  those  who  have  attended  the 
London  meetings  throughout,  the  best  of 
all.  It  was  as  closely  packed  with  men  as 
could  be  :  how  many  were  left  outside  we 
cannot  tell.  A  meeting  for  them  was  held 
in  the  Camberwell-Green  Hall.  Mr.  Sankey 
took  his  seat  at  the  instrument  about  half 
an  hour  before  the  time,  and  while  he  was 
singing  for  Jesus  to  the  eager  crowd  of 
listeners,  Mr.  Moody  and  a  few  friends  were 
in  the  little  waiting-room  below,  supplicat- 
ing God  for  a  Pentecostal  blessing  on  this 
parting  service.  And  their  prayer  was  an- 
swered of  a  truth.  We  have  not  witnessed 
such  a  wondrous  scene  during  any  of  the 
many  gatherings  these  last  four  months ; 
the  only  approach  to  it  was  one  Sunday 
afternoon  at  a  women's  meeting  in  the 
Opera  House. 

Several  of  Mr.  Moody's  American  friends 
were  present  to  witness  the  crowning  service 
of  this  mission. 

Mr.  Moody  took  for  his  subject,  as  in 
the  afternoon,  that  all-important  query, 
"  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  .?"  and  the 
bulk  of  his  discourse  was  essentially  a  repe- 
tition of  that  delivered  to  the  women. 
But  the  power  and  presence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  apply  the  spoken  word  was  far 
more  wonderfully  manifest. 

As  he  drew  to  a  close,  Mr.  Moody  be- 
came very  earnest  and  urgent  in  his  appeals 
to  the  vast  and  intensely  interested  audience 
to  accept  Christ.  "  Just  let  me  pause  here," 
he  said ;  "  ask  yourselves  whether  you 
ought  not  to  receive  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
now.  Who  is  there  in  this  assembly  will 
receive  the  gift  of  God  and  be  saved  ?" 
After  a  brief  pause,  a  voice  came  from  the 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


43 


left-hand  gallery,  somewhat  feebly,  "  I  will." 
It  was  speedily  followed  by  others  from  all 
parts  of  the  house.  "Well,"  continued  Mr. 
Moody,  "Thank  God  for  that.  I  am  just 
passing  round  the  cup  of  salvation  ;  who 
else  will  take  it  ?"  "  I  will,"  "  I  will,"  "  I 
will,"  "  I  will,"  "  I  will,"  came  resounding 
on  every  hand.  "  That's  right,  my  boy," 
replied  the  speaker  to  a  little  fellow  down 
in  front  of  him,  whose  "  I  will"  came  up  to 
the  platform  with  the  rest.  "  Will  the 
Christians  keep  praying?  Men  do  not  speak 
out  like  this  unless  God  is  at  work.  Who 
else  will  accept  the  gift  ?"  Again  a  perfect 
volume  of  "  I  wills."  "  Would  it  not  be  a 
glorious  thing  if  every  man  here  would  take 
it  to-night.?  Is  there  another?"  "  I  will." 
"Another?"  "I  will."  "That  is  right; 
speak  out.  If  you  are  willing  to  have  God's 
gift,  just  say  so."  Then  there  came  a  louder 
response  from  a  manly  voice  in  a  distant 
part  of  the  Hall,  followed  by  the  shrill  tones 
of  a  little  boy,  and  many  other  "  I  wills" 
came  to  our  enraptured  ears  in  close  suc- 
cession. They  came  so  thick,  we  could 
not  note  them  down. 

And  then  Mr.  Moody  said  :  "The  time 
has  come  for  us  to  close  the  two  years  and 
three  weeks  we  have  been  trying  to  labor 
for  Christ  among  you.  This  is  the  last 
time  I  shall  have  the  unspeakable  privilege 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  in  this  country  at 
this  time.  I  want  to  say  that  it  has  been 
the  two  best  years  of  my  life.  ("  Have 
another  week,  Mr.  Moody,"  shouted  a 
stentorian  voice  from  the  crowd  below.) 
My  friends,  you  can  all  be  saved  this  night, 
if  you  will  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
If  I  stayed  another  week  I  do  not  know 
what  more  I  could  say.  I  have  brought 
Christ  before  you  ;  I  have  told  you  of  His 
beauty.  It  is  true  I  have  done  it  with 
stammering  tongue.  I  have  never  spoken 
of  Him  as  I  would  like ;  but  I  have  done 
the  best  I  could.  And  now,  in  this  closing 
hour,  I  want  once  more  to  press  Him  upon 
your  acceptance.  I  do  not  want  to  close 
this  meeting  until  I  see  you  all  safe  in  the 
ark,  safe  behind  the  walls  of  the  city  of 
refuge.  How  many  are  to- night  willing  to 
stand  up  before  God  and  man,  and  say  by 
that  act  that  they  will  join  us  in  our  journey 
to  heaven  ?  You  that  are  willing  to  take 
Christ  now,  would  you  just  rise.  (A  mighty 
army  of  men  rose  to  their  feet  at  once.) 
Why  not  three  thousand?  The  God  of 
Pentecost  still  lives."  Numbers  more  stood, 
until  one  could  scarce  distinguish  between 
those  sitting  and  those  standing.  Then  Mr. 


Moody  led  in  prayer,  with  a  faltering  voice, 
often  choking  with  suppressed  emotion.  He 
besought  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
fall  upon  those  who  had  risen  and  those 
who  had  not,  and  that  great  multitudes 
might  be  saved. 

"And  now,"  he  said,  "we  will  sing, 
'  Safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus.'  "  While  it  was 
being  sung,  the  inquiry-rooms  were  filled 
with  seeking  ones,  and  our  hearts  were  re- 
joiced to  see  many  come  tearfully,  others 
calmly  and  trustfully,  declaring  their  trust 
in  Jesus  as  their  Saviour  and  everlasting 
refuge.  It  was  a  season  of  ingathering 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were 
present,  and  was  a  fitting  close  to  the 
labors  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  in 
Great  Britain. 


IV. 

CLOSING  MEETING  AT  BOW-ROAD 
HALL. 

It  is  good  to  be  always  zealously  affect- 
ed in  a  good  cause,  and  it  was  really  a 
brave  farewell  that  the  good  people  of  the 
East  accorded  to  the  services  at. the  Bow- 
road  Hall.  The  place  was  comparatively 
full  by  7.15,  and  thronged  by  the  time  of 
commencing.  The  choir  sang  as  if  they 
appreciated  the  importance  of  their  last 
opportunity,  and  the  heart  and  delicacy  of 
the  rendering  have  not  been  surpassed  in 
any  section  of  London.  Then  in  the  in- 
tervals rose  the  sweet,  weird  notes  of  the 
Jubilee  Singers,  telling  of  the  "  Mansions  of 
bliss,"  and  of  "  peace  "  in  the  "  valley  ot 
the  shadow  of  death." 

The  solemnity  of  the  occasion  would  have 
inspired  a  less  sensitive  and  far-seeing  man 
than  the  Rev.  Hay  Aitken,  and  we  were 
more  thankful  than  surprised  at  the  thrilling 
address  that  he  delivered  on  Luke  xix.  37- 
44.  He  bade  those  who  had  been  blessed 
of  God,  either  personally  or  relatively,  to 
join  in  the  loud  "  Hosanna  ;"  and  called  on 
all  prepared  to  do  so,  to  "  stand  on  their 
feet,  and  bless  the  Lord."  A  very  large 
number  responded,  singing  as  they  did  so, 
"  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 
It  was  a  never-to-be-forgotten  moment,  and 
gave  a  slight  idea  of  what  the  harvest  shall 
be  in  the  "  sweet  by-and-by."  Then  fol- 
lowed terribly  weighty  words  on  the  "  day 
of  visitation"  which  has  come  to  our  land. 
The  women's  meeting  was  crowded  with 
inquirers  up  to  a  late  hour,  and  the  last 
words  heard  in  the  hall  were  the  thanks- 


44 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


givings  of  new-born  souls,  and  the  praises 
of  grateful  workers. 

And  thus  closes  the  brief  existence  of  this 
hall  built  in  faith  that  God  would  fill  it  with 
His  glory.  He  has  done  it,  and  to  Him  be 
the  praise. 


V. 

FAREWELL   AND   THANKSGIVING 
MEETING. 

Not  the  least  interesting  of  the  long  and 
wonderful  series  of  meetings  held  in  Lon- 
don in  connection  with  our  beloved  brethren 
Moody  and  Sankey  was  the  farewell  at  Mild- 
may  Conference  Hall  on  Monday  afternoon. 
The  area  was  crowded  with  ministers  and 
laymen,  and  the  three  galleries  with  a  mixed 
audience  of  ladies  and  gentlemen.  Dr. 
Bonar's  hymn,  "  Rejoice  and  be  glad,  the 
Redeemer  has  come,"  was  sung  as  the 
key-note.  Then  the  Rev.  C.  D.  Marston 
offered  prayer  ;  and  Mr.  Stone,  chairman 
of  the  Central  Committee,  spoke  out  the 
thanks  of  himself  and  his  brethren  for  the 
unremitting  grace  with  which  God  has 
blessed  this  movement. 

Mr.  Moody  said  we  were  met  to  give 
thanks  to  God,  and  not  to  honor  men,  and 
very  emphatically  laid  it  down  that  nothing 
should  be  said  about  the  instruments. 

Dr.  Andrew  Bonar  gave  a  deeply  inter- 
esting address  on  the  man  who  lay  at  the 
Beautiful  Gate  of  the  Temple,  which  we 
must  reserve  for  our  next.  He  then  gave 
the  most  unqualified  testimony  to  the 
wonderful  results  of  the  work  in  Glasgow. 
All  the  ministers  are  agreed  that  at  least 
7,000  have  been  added  to  the  Church  mem- 
bership in  that  city.  The  results  to  the 
poorest  of  the  people  are  manifest  in  the 
tent  work  every  Sabbath-day. 

Rev.  R.  C.  Billings  said  that  it  was  pre- 
mature to  speak  of  the  results  of  the  work 
at  the  Agricultural  Hall,  and  added  that  one 
of  the  most  cheering  has  been  the  increased 
union  of  Christians. 

The  hymn  "  Only  an  armor-bearer"  was 
now  sung,  and  then  Rev.  Archibald  Brown 
noted  some  of  the  features  of  the  work  :  re- 
ligious stagnation  swept  away  ;  a  longing 
desire  to  hear  the  Gospel  created  and  de- 
veloped ;  God  has  taught  His  people  to  get 
up  early  on  Sunday  morning  to  hear  how  to 
study  the  Bible  ;  an  intense  desire  for  the 
conversion  of  souls ;  such  prayers  oftered 
as  we  used  not  to  hear  ;  God  has  shown  that 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  the  power  to  move 


the  masses  ;  the  gauntlet  thrown  down  by 
philosophy  God  has  taken  up,  and  we  are 
seeing   the  fruits  at  the  East-end. 

Dr.  Donald  Eraser  bore  testimony  to  the 
fruitfulness  of  the  meetings  at  the  Opera 
House,  and  dwelt  si)ecially  on  the  necessity 
of  now  feeding  the  tlock  of  God,  and  giving 
Bible  instruction  to  the  higher  as  well  as 
to  the  poorer  classes. 

Rev.  T.  Richardson  gave  some  most  in- 
teresting statistics  resulting  from  the  meet- 
ings at  the  East-end  ;  Rev.  R.  Taylor  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Elindt  gave  most  thriUing  accounts 
of  the  work  in  the  South ;  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Newton  added  to  what  Mr.  Billings  had  al- 
ready said  about  the  North  of  London. 

Dr.  Jobson  rejoiced  in  this  work  as  an 
open  and  public  rebuke  of  sce[)ticism  ;  it 
shows  the  power  of  Christianity  to  save  the 
souls  of  men,  and  has  checked  the  flood  of 
worldliness  flowing  in  with  the  increasing 
wealth  of  the  nation ;  it  has  shown  the  im- 
portance of  lay  operation  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord;  and  he  reported  that  in  all  ses- 
sions and  assemblies  of  members  of  his  own 
denomination  this  work  was  never  referred 
to  but  with  sympathy  and  interest. 

"Rescue  the  perishing"  was  now  sung, 
and  Mr.  Moody,  with  broken  utterance,  led 
in  fervent  and  humble  thanksgiving  in 
prayer. 

Rev.  Marcus  Rainsford,  dwelling  on  the 
greatness  of  the  work,  said  that  the  masses 
had  been  more  influenced  than  the  ministers. 
He  proceeded  to  tell  a  most  graphic  story 
of  the  way  in  which  a  costermonger  showed 
the  Gospel  to  an  inquiring  comrade,  and 
some  cases  which  came  witliin  his  own  ex- 
perience. This  work  is  not  to  stop.  Our 
dear  brethren  are  going  away,  but  God  is 
not  going  away.  Why  should  we  not  all  be 
preachers  of  the  Gospel — each  man,  and 
woman,  and  child — in  his  position  ?  If  God 
Almighty  will  just  pour  his  Spirit  upon  us, 
we  may  have  10,000  Moodys  and  10,000 
Sankeys  to  welcome  them  when  they  came 
back  among  us. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Chown  said :  While  you  meet, 
representing  London,  not  only  London,  but 
the  country  also,  is  represented  in  this  bless- 
ing on  London.  The  Master  is  saying, 
"  Thou  shalt  see  greater  things  than  these." 
If  we  can't  be  the  Peters  and  preach  great 
sermons,  we  may  be  the  Andrews  to  bring 
Peters  to  Christ.  The  great  want  of  the 
present  day  is  the  lifting  up  of  a  personal 
Christ.  We  want  to  be  all  Christ's — Christ 
living  in  us.  Live  so  that  Christian  must 
be  written  with  a  capital  letter. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


45 


Rev.  W,  Hay  Chapman  thanked  God 
that  these  beloved  brethren  had  been  sus- 
tained through  these  long  weeks  of  service  ; 
and  added,  that  had  there  been  still  more 
union  and  sympathy  among  ministers,  there 
would  have  been  a  still  greater  work. 

Mr.  H.  Varley,  feeling  that  there  was  a 
certain  amount  of  weakness,  yet  believed 
there  was  a  greater  spirit  of  unity  than  ever 
before.  He  hoped  the  young  converts 
would  be  cared  for.  Some  old  sheep  don't 
believe  in  lambs  ;  they  never  were  lambs. 

Rev.  W.  H.  M.  H.  Aitken  had  had  some 
work  to  do  in  gleaning  after  the  American 
brethren  ;  had  been  preaching  at  the  East- 
end  with  the  Jubilee  Singers  as  coadjutors, 
and  the  Hall,  instead  of  being  thinly  attend- 
ed, was  crowded.  He  was  pleased  to  ob- 
serve how  reverentially  the  Jubilee  Singers 
entered  into  the  work,  and  much  blessing 
resulted  from  their  singing.  He  repeated 
the  opinion  of  a  publican  at  Liverpool,  that 
if  Moody  and  Sankey  had  remained  there 
five  months,  instead  of  one,  half  the  public- 
houses  in  the  town  would  have  been  closed, 
and  mentioned  some  most  cheering  facts 
connected  with  his  own  congregation. 

Mr.  Smithson,  the  indefatigable  secretary 
of  Mr.  Moody's  Dublin  Committee,  gave 
very  interesting  facts  with  respect  to  Ire- 
land. 

After  some  emphatic  testimony  from 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  Mr.  Sankey  sang  "The 
ninety  and  nine,"  and  the  gathering  shortly 
afterwards  dispersed. 


VI. 

THE    FAREWELL    MEETING   AT 
LONDON. 

(Second  Article.) 

Last  week  we  were  able  to  give  only  a 
very  condensed  sketch  of  the  farewell  and 
thanksgiving  service  convened  by  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  at  Mildmay  Conference 
Hall,  on  Monday  week.  We  now  give  the 
most  important  of  the  numerous  addresses 
delivered  by  representative  I-ondon  clergy- 
men and  others  on  the  occasion. 

It  may  interest  our  readers  to  know  that 
of  the  700  and  odd  ministers  who  were  pres- 
ent at  this  memorable  gathering,  there 
were  188  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, 154  Congregationalists,  85  Baptists, 
81  Wesleyan  Methodists,  39  Presbyterians, 
8  foreign  pastors,  8  United  Methodists,  7 
Primitive  Methodists,  3  Plymouth  Brethren, 


2  Countess  of  Huntingdon's  Connection,  2 
Society  of  Friends,  3  Free  Church  of  Eng- 
land, I  Bible  Christian,  and  upwards  of  20 
not  known.  These  figures  we  take  from 
the  official  statement  supplied  at  the  meet- 
ing, and  they  significantly  show  the  catholic 
and  unsectarian  character  of  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey' s  services,  as  well  as  the  uni- 
versal esteem  with  which  our  evangelist 
brethren  are  regarded  by  all  sections  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  this  country.  A  large 
number  of  influential  laymen  and  Christian 
workers  were  also  present,  among  the  best 
known  of  them  being  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
Lord  Cavan,  Mr.  Cowper-Temple,  M.P., 
Mr.  Alderman  M' Arthur,  M.P.,  Mr.  Samuel 
Morley,  M.P.,  etc. 

As  already  stated,  we  only  give  those  of 
the  addresses  containing  interesting  facts 
and  statistics  relating  to  the  movement. 

Rev.  R.  D.  Wilson,  of  Craven  Chapel, 
said  a  new  spiritual  glow  had  come  into  the 
hearts  of  many  during  the  last  four  months. 
They  had  learned,  too,  that  their  cherished 
traditions  had  no  more  sanctity  or  authority 
about  them  than  the  new  things,  which 
startled  some  of  them  at  first,  but  with  which 
they  had  now  become  most  blessedly 
familiar.  It  was  too  soon  to  speak  of  the 
results  as  a  whole,  but  within  the  last  three 
days  he  had  met  no  less  than  twelve  or 
thirteen  distinct  cases  of  conversion  in  con- 
sequence of  the  ministrations  of  the  evan- 
gelists. He  read  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  he  had  received  :  "I  feel  it  my 
duty  and  inexpressible  pleasure  to  tell  you 
that  I  and  one  of  my  brothers  were  convert- 
ed at  one  of  Mr.  Moody's  meetings  last 
week.  Could  you  know  my  inner  life  for 
the  past  ten  years,  you  would  indeed  say  I 
have  been  plucked  like  a  brand  from  the 
burning.  I  cannot  cease  to  marvel  at  the 
greatness  of  my  salvation."  The  mother  of 
that  young  lady,  said  the  speaker,  had  come 
to  him  yesterday,  and  stated  that  for  twenty- 
five  years,  with  few  exceptions,  she  had  reg- 
ularly attended  the  service  of  the  sanctuary, 
but  the  haj^piest  day  in  her  Christian  ex- 
perience was  the  previous  Sunday,  when 
she  sat  with  her  converted  daughter  on  her 
right  hand  and  a  converted  son  on  her  left. 
As  the  speaker  told  this  affecting  little  story, 
we  felt  certain  that  the  tear  of  joy  gathered 
in  many  an  eye,  only  we  could  not  see  for 
the  mist  that  came  across  our  own.  He 
went  on  to  say,  that  we  had  never  known 
what  it  was  to  "  sing  the  Gospel  "  -  of  Jesus 
Christ  till  our  two  brethren  came.  We 
could   now  understand  how  the   sweetest 


46 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


tones  could  becqme  the  highest  sort  of 
Christian  eloquence,  in  declaring  to  men 
the  NVay  of  Life.  He  would  so  far  disobey 
the  rule  that  no  reference  was  to  be  made 
to  the  two  evangelists,  as  to  assure  them 
that  they  would  carry  home  to  their  Ameri- 
can country  the  warmest  love  and  heartiest 
esteem  of  the  ministers  and  Christian  peo- 
ple of  this  country.  At  this  remark  the 
pent-up  feelings  of  the  audience  could  no 
longer  be  restrained,  and  they  burst  out  in- 
to loud  and  prolonged  applause.  We  were 
extremely  glad  that  the  natural  emotions  of 
the  congregration  for  once  refused  to  be 
smothered  by  that  false  and  frigid  idea  of 
decorum  which  obtains  too  much  in  our  re- 
ligious assemblies,  and  prevents  the  legiti- 
mate expression  of  the  deepest  feelings  of 
the  heart.  But  this  is  a  digression.  Mr. 
Wilson  continued  :  "  We  shall  not  forget, 
when  the  Atlantic  lies  between  their  home 
and  ours,  at  our  family  altar,  at  the  place  of 
secret  meeting  with  our  God,  in  our  prayer- 
meetings,  and  in  our  Sabbath  assemblies,  to 
pray  that  God's  richest  blessing  may  rest 
upon  them  there.  And  it  will  be  a  glad 
day  for  us  all,  if  ever  that  day  comes,  when 
we  shall  hear  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Western  Main  the  intelligence  that  they  are 
coming  again.  Until  then  we  shall  con- 
tinue to  pray  that,  when  God  sees  meet 
that  they  should  come,  they  may  come  in 
the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ." 

Rev.  Thomas  Richardson,  of  St.  Benet's, 
Stepney,  said  the  effect  of  the  meetings  in 
the  East-end  had  been  to  make  his  church 
and  congregation  "  enlarge  the  place  of 
their  tent,  and  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of 
their  habitation."  He  would  rather  wait 
for  a  year  before  he  gave  his  testimony  as  to 
results,  as  there  were  many  reasons  why 
they  should  not  now  begin  to  count.  But 
he  had  no  doubt  that  thousands  of  souls 
would  be  recorded  in  their  various  chapels 
and  churches  all  over  London  by  next  year. 
His  district  visitors  had  sent  in  to  him  formal 
returns,  showing  that  of  i,oo8  families  in 
his  parish,  672,  or  two  families  out  of  every 
three,  had  attended  the  services  at  Bow- 
road  Hail.  Further,  he  had  two  direct 
testimonies  that  the  attendances  at  the 
theatres  of  East  London  had  sensibly  di- 
minished. Some  of  the  officials  of  these 
theatres  had  given  up  the  profession,  and 
he  had  only  to-day  had  an  interview  with 
one  who  was  starting  a  different  course.  He 
had  something  too  to  say  about  the  influence 
of  the  movement  on  the  dock  laborers.  He 


had  received  testimony  from  several  of  the 
large  docks  that  the  men  did  not  swear  so 
much  since  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
came  :  praise  God  for  that.  Besides,  drink- 
ing was  not  so  prevalent  amongst  the  dock- 
men,  and  that  was  the  kind  of  work  that 
the  world  believed  in.  He  had  been  privi- 
leged to  attend  every  service  in  Bow-road 
Hall,  and  he  would  thank  God  to  all  eternity 
for  it.  He  had  seen  the  power  of  sympathy 
— that  sympathy  which  brought  Christ  down 
to  die  for  sinners.  Sinners  had  felt  its 
])Ower,  so  they  had  stood  up  and  declared 
they  wanted  to  be  saved.  He  had  had  the 
privilege  of  conversing  personally  with  450 
anxious  souls;  his  wife  had  spoken  to  150, 
and  his  curate  had  spoken  to  100.  There 
were  thus  700  souls  whose  names  and  ad- 
dresses they  knew,  and  to  whom  they  had 
written.  Formerly,  he  had  an  after-meet- 
ing once  a  month  ;  now  he  had  one  every 
Sunday  evening,  and  not  a  Sunday  passed 
without  some  souls  being  gathered  in.  The 
direct  results  of  the  meetings  were  seen  in 
his  church,  his  wife's  Bible-class,  his  young 
men's  meetings,  and  among  his  district  visit- 
ors. He  urged  the  general  adoption  of 
the  after-meeting,  as  being  the  key  to  the 
success  of  the  services,  and  added  that  if 
the  Spirit  led  him  to  adopt  Mr.  Moody's 
style  of  preaching  he  was  going  to  do  it. 

Rev.  Robert  Taylor,  of  Norwood,  gave 
some  intensely  interesting  facts  respecting 
what  had  transpired  in  the  inquiry-room  at 
Camberwell-green  Hall.  He  had  to  do 
what  Mr.  Moody  called  "police  work" 
there,  and  in  this  capacity  he  was  able  to 
take  a  general  view  of  the  inquirers  who, 
night  after  night,  thronged  the  rooms.  One 
or  two  things  had  struck  him.  First,  the 
large  number  of  old  people  who  came  as 
inquirers,  and  who  went  away  as  very  young 
Christians.  He  was  afraid  that,  in  their 
anxiety  to  shut  up  and  shut  in  the  young, 
they  had  been  in  danger  of  shutting  out  the 
old.  They  had  fallen  into  the  unbelief  of 
Nicodemus,  who  said,  "How can  a  man  be 
born  when  he  is  old  ?"  But  many  blessed 
births  of  the  old  had  been  seen  in  the  in- 
quiry-room at  Camberwell.  He  was  also 
struck  with  the  amazing  variety  of  opinion 
— religious  opinion  and  no  opinion — repre- 
sented. One  evening  he  gave  up  his  seat 
in  the  hall  to  a  distinguished  literary  man, 
who  lately  wrote  that  "there  was  a  Power 
above  us  that,  at  least,  we  know  to  be  work- 
ing for  righteousness."  One  evening,  in 
the  inquiry-room,  he  met  a  young  woman, 
and  asked  if  she  was  anxious.  Yes,  to  know 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


47 


If  there  was  a  God.  Did  she  not  beHeve  it  ? 
\Vell,  the  sum  of  her  beUef  was  that  "  there 
was  soinething  above  us."  He  could  tell 
of  a  wife,  deserted  by  h^r  husband,  who 
had  been  in  such  utter  misery  and  agony 
that  she  had  twice  contemplated  going  to 
London-bridge  to  commit  suicide.  In  that 
inquirv-rop'm  she  was  brought  to  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  and  peace  with  God  through 
the  preaching  and  singing.  Afterwards  she 
prayed  so  beautifully  for  her  husband  that 
the  lady  who  conversed  with  her  was  deep- 
ly touched  as  she  listened.  She  did  not 
pray  that  he  might  be  restored  to  her — 
now  she  did  not  care  so  much  about  that, — 
but  that  God  would  bring  him  to  Himself, 
and  that  they  might  be  re-united  in  heaven. 
He  could  tell  of  several  Roman  Catholics 
brought  to  simple  faith  and  sweet  peace  in 
Jesus.  He  could  tell  of  a  man  who  for 
twenty  minutes  hid  his  face  from  the  lady 
who  spoke  to  him,  so  deep  was  his  distress 
and  shame.  He  afterwards  told  her  how 
he  was  standing  at  St.  Giles',  and  tossed 
up  whether  he  should  go  the  theatre  or  the 
meeting.  It  was,  "  Heads  the  theatre, 
tails  Moody  and  Sankey."  It  was  tails. 
He  went  to  the  meeting,  was  led  to  go  into 
the  inquiry-room,  and,  as  he  described  it  in  a 
letter  to  the  lady  who  was  the  means  of  bring- 
ing him  into  light,  "She  fought  manfully 
with  him  for  the  Lord  Jesus,"  and  he  went 
home  a  rejoicing  believer.  These  were  but 
few  specimens  of  hundreds  of  cases  he 
could  quote,  and  when  friends  said  to  him 
the  night  before,  with  sad  hearts,  they  were 
so  sorry  the  meetings  were  over,  he  could 
only  reply,  "  Yes,  and  I  am  so  glad  the  work 
is  so  gloriously  begun." 

Rev.  G.  Flindt,  of  Denmark-hill,  also 
spoke  of  the  work  in  the  inquiry-room  at 
Camberwell.  He  said  that  one  result  of  the 
services  had  been  to  increase  the  local  con- 
gregations. In  his  own  church  they  had 
on  several  occasions  not  had  standing 
,  room  during  the  visit  of  the  evangelists. 
He  had  learned  this  lesson  :  that,  if  the  min- 
istry is  to  be  useful,  a  personal  Christ  must 
be  lifted  up.  A  man  in  the  inquiry-room 
had  said  to  him,  "  It  seems  as  if  that  man 
(referring  to  Mr.  Moody)  had  his  Friend 
quite  close  to  him,  and  he  was  talking 
about  him."  Only  eternity  would  reveal 
the  good  that  had  been  done  in  the  South 
of  London.  The  night  before,  at  the  clos- 
ing service,  there  were  scores  of  anxious 
ones  who  came  asking  if  it  was  possible  to 
get  a  grip  of  the  hands  of  the  evangelists, 
and  thank  them  for  what  had  been  told  them 


about  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  tears  of 
gladness  flowed  down  many  a  furrowed 
cheek,  when  they  were  asked  to  go  home 
and  tell  God  all  about  it,  and  thank  Him 
for  the  messengers  He  had  sent.  One  re- 
markable circumstance  in  connection  with 
the  Camberwell  services  had  been  in  the 
attendance  of  a  number  of  medical  stu- 
dents from  the  various  hospitals.  Some  of 
the  medical  men  in  the  neighborhood  had 
found  time  and  opi:)ortunity  to  invite  them 
to  their  houses  to  dine,  and  afterwards  had 
spoken  to  them  about  salvation.  If  only 
half  a  dozen  young  students  were  brought 
to  Christ,  what  might  not  be  the  result 
when  they  were  attending  the  sick-beds  of 
those  who  should  be  committed  to  their 
care  ?  The  South  London  Committee 
were  loo  strong,  and  they  were  going,  by 
God's  grace,  to  work  shoulder  to  shoulder 
and  hand  to  hand  in  this  blessed  work. 

Rev.  Marcus  Rainsford  said  he  felt  we 
were  living  in  days  which  many  had  looked 
and  longed  for,  but  had  not  seen.  He 
thought  that  God  had  been  working  much 
more  with  the  masses  than  the  ministers. 
For  his  own  part,  he  had  learned  much 
sipce  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  came  to 
London.  Many  prejudices  had  been  broken 
down,  many  difficulties  removed,  and  many 
a  lessoTi  learned  that  he  would  never  forget. 
He  had  been  taught  by  a  costermonger 
how  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  was  talk- 
ing to  a  costermonger  one  evening,  and 
trying  to  show  him  the  great  salvation, 
when  a  bright-looking  young  fellow  came 
up  and  quietly  put  him  aside,  saying,  "  Sir, 
I  found  Christ  last  week ;  I  think  I  can 
talk  to  this  man  better  than  you."  '  Well, 
let  us  hear  what  you  have  to  say."  "  I  never 
heard  such  lingo,"  said  Mr.  Rainsford. 
"Now,  Joe,  s'pose  it  was  all  up  wi'  yer  ; 
mother  starvin',  wife  starvin',  children  starv- 
in',  and  the  mackerel  nowhere.  S'pose  I 
see  yer  lookin'  very  pale,  and  sad,  and  mis- 
erable ;  and,  says  I, "'Joe,  here's  a  fat  half 
for  you.'"  (1  wondered  what  that  was, 
but  the  other  seemed  to  know  all  about  it.) 
"  I  give  it  yer  with  all  my  heart ;  be  oif  and 
do  your  work.  Away  you  go  to  Billings- 
gate and  spend  the  fat  half."  (It  means 
half  a  sovereign,  and  a  sixpence  means  a 
"  thin  half")  "  You  get  the  mackerel,  and 
bring  it  home  ;  you  get  the  money,  and 
you  bring  home  some  bread  ;  yes,  there  it 
be  at  home  ;  now  what  would  you  say  ?"  "  I 
would  say,  '  Thank  you  ;  God  bless  you  !'  " 
"  Well,  say  that  to  Christ,  for  He  didn't 
give  you  the  fat  half,  but  the  whole."    And 


48 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


that  was  the  Gospel  as  ably  and  spiritually 
preached,  and  as  blessedly  preached,  as  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  could  preach  it. 
After  some  further  striking  experiences,  he 
expressed  a  hope  that  the  work  would  go 
on  after  our  brethren  had  left,  and  that 
many  would  be  found  to  imitate  their  ex- 
ample in  telling  of  Jesus  to  all  around. 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  said,  nothing 
but  the  positive  command  of  Mr.  Moody 
would  have  induced  him  to  come  forward 
on  the  present  occasion  and  say  but  a  few 
words  in  the  presence  of  so  many  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel.  But  as  Mr.  Moody  had 
asked  him  to  speak  of  what  had  occurred 
during  the  past  four  months,  he  did  so  with 
the  deepest  sense  of  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  that  he  had  raised  up  a  man  with  such 
a  message  and  to  be  delivered  in  such  a 
manner.  And  though  Mr.  Moody  said  they 
were  not  to  praise  him  or  his  friend  Mr. 
Sankey,  yet  if  they  praised  God  for  sending 
them  such  men  as  these,  they  did  no  more 
than  express  their  admiration  of  the  instru- 
ments that  He  had  raised  up  while  they  gave 
Hmi  all  the  glory.  He  had  been  conversant 
for  many  years  with  the  people  of  this  me- 
tropolis, and  he  might  tell  them  that  wher- 
ever he  went  he  found  the  traces  of  these 
men,  of  the  impression  they  had  made,  of 
the  feeling  they  had  produced,  and  of  the 
stamp  that  he  hoped  would  be  indelible  on 
many  of  the  people.  He  could  speak  that  as 
the  truth  as  to  many  parts  of  London,  and 
the  lowest  parts  of  London.  Only  a  few 
days  ago  he  received  a  letter  from  a  friend 
of  his,  a  man  whose  whole  life  was  given  to 
going  among  the  most  wretched  and  the 
most  abandoned  of  the  populous  city  of  Man- 
chester, and  who  spoke  of  the  good  that 
had  been  effected  there  by  the  preaching  of 
Moody  and  Sankey.  A  correspondent  in 
Sheffield  had  also  written  him  that  he  could 
not  satisfy  in  any  degree  the  wants  of  the 
people  ;  that  they  were  calling  out  for  tracts 
and  something  that  should  keep  up  the  ap- 
petite that  had  been  created.  He  said, 
*'  For  God's  sake,  send  me  tracts  by  thou- 
sands and  millions  !"  Even  if  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  had  done  nothing  more 
than  to  teach  the  people  to  sing  as  they 
did  with  energy  and  expression,  such  hymns 
as  "  Hold  the  fort,  for  I  am  coming,"  they 
would  have  conferred  an  inestimable  bless- 
ing. 

Mr.  Sankey  then  sang  the  hymn  com- 
mencing, "  There  were  ninety  and  nine 
that  safely  lay,"  after  which  he  said  that 
■when  they  got  to  their  own  country  they 


would  often  sing  this  hymn  again,  and  they 
trusted  that  God's  blessing  would  accom- 
pany the  singing  of  it.  They  asked  their 
friends  here  to  pray  for  them,  and  that  the 
Lord  would  continue  to  bless  them.  They 
would  be  glad  to  hear  from  their  friends 
here,  and  they  trusted  to  hear  that  the 
work  was  going  on.  • 

Mr.  Moody  said  he  would  ask  them  to 
spend  a  few  moments  in  silent  prayer,  but, 
before  they  did  so,  he  begged  to  thank  the 
ministers  for  the  sympathy  they  had  shown 
them  in  the  past  two  years.  They  had  had 
nothing  but  kindness  shown  them.  He 
also  wished  publicly  to  thank  the  Com- 
mittee, and  also  the  stewards,  who  had 
manifested  towards  them  nothing  but  kind- 
ness. He  had  also  to  thank  the  reporters 
for  the  press.  He  knew  that  he  had  made 
mistakes,  but  they  had  not  reported  his  mis- 
takes or  his  failings.  In  fact,  they  had  all 
been  kind.  He  also  wished  to  thank  the 
pohce  for  the  considerate  manner  in  which 
they  had  performed  their  duty.  He  had 
one  favor  to  ask  of  them — he  would  not  ask 
them  to  pass  a  resolution,  for  their  hearts 
were  worth  more  than  a  resolution  —  he 
asked  them  to  pray  for  them,  and  to  con- 
tinue to  pray  for  them  as  they  had  done 
for  the  last  two  years.  He  now  asked 
them  to  pray  for  a  short  time  in  silence. 

The  congregation  then  bowed  their  heads, 
and,  after  the  lapse  of  two  or  three  min- 
utes, audible  prayer  was  offered  by  some 
one  on  the  platform,  after  which  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  hastily  retired,  in  order 
to  escape  the  painful  ordeal  of  bidding  so 
many  of  their  friends  a  formal  good-bye. 


VII. 

IN  NORTH  WALES. 

During  the  two  years  sojourn  of  the 
American  Evangehsts  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland,  they  have  so  assiduously 
devoted  themselves  to  the  unfolding  of 
God's  wonderful  working  in  grace  towards 
a  lost  world,  that  they  have  been  left  no 
time  for  any  survey  of  His  scarcely  less 
wonderful  working  in  nature,  which  any  of 
these  three  kingdoms  can  show.  They  have 
passed  the  best  part  of  three  summer  sea- 
sons in  our  midst ;  but  while  other  laborers 
in  the  Lord's  vineyard  were  taking  their 
now  universal  "holiday,"  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey  were  hard  at  work,  entreating  men 
and  women  to  be  reconciled  to  God.    Now 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


49 


that  their  regular  labors  have  ceased,  a 
brief  week  or  two  has  been  devoted  to  well- 
earned  recreation  ere  they  return  to  their 
native  land.  As  our  readers  know,  Mr. 
Sankey  traversed  part  of  Switzerland,  but 
Mr.  Moody  has  not  gone  so  far  afield,  but  has 
contented  himself  with  a  short  tour  among 
the  Welsh  mountains,  in  company  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Aitken,  and  Mr.  Balfour,  of  Liver- 
pool, at  whose  country  residence  he  has 
been  a  guest.  Like  Mr.  Sankey  in  Swit- 
zerland, he  has  had  to  pay  the  penalty  of  a 
wide-spread  popularity.  His  fame  has  pre- 
ceded him  wherever  he  has  gone,  and  thrice 
he  has  been  induced  to  break  silence,  and 
give  Gospel  addresses  to  the  immense  mul- 
titudes that  have  gathered  to  hear  him. 

GREAT    GATHERING   AT  WREXHAM. 

Of  the  great  meetings  at  Wrexham  on  the 
ist  inst.,  and  at  Rossett  the  following  day, 
I  can  speak  from  observation.  Reaching 
the  former  place  about  eleven  o'clock  on 
the  evening  of  Saturday,  31st  ult,  the  first 
thing  that  my  eye  caught,  by  the  light  of  a 
street-lamp,  was  a  poster  announcing  that 
Mr.  Moody  would  preach  in  Wrexham  the 
next  day  (Sunday),  at  six  o'clock  p.  m.  The 
town  seemed  in  a  bustle  even  at  that  late 
hour,  and  was  palpably  very  full,  as  I  had 
some  little  difficulty  in  securing  a  resting- 
place  for  the  night. 

At  half-past  seven  o'clock  next  (Sunday) 
morning,  a  united  prayer-meeting  was  held 
in  the  Corn  Exchange,  to  ask  God's  bless- 
ing on  the  services  of  the  day.  I  was  not 
avvare  of  it,  and  consequently  did  not  at- 
tend, but  I  understand  that  upwards  of  500 
persons  were  present,  including  several  of 
the  ministers  of  the  town,  and  that  the  pro- 
ceedings were  marked  by  a  spirit  of  much 
devotion  and  earnestness.  Early  in  the  day, 
I  encountered  in  the  street  an  old  man 
busy  reading  Mr.  Sankey' s  little  hymn-book, 
who  stated  that  he  had  walked  seven  miles 
in  the  morning  to  be  at  the  prayer-meeting, 
in  the  expectation  of  hearing  Mr.  Moody 
there.  He  also  informed  me  that  one  of 
Mr.  Moody's  "followers"  was  to  preach 
at  St.  Mark's  Church  in  the  forenoon.  I 
found  out  afterwards  that  Mr.  Aitken  was 
meant,  and  the  description  was  not  so  much 
amiss,  as  Mr.  Aitken  has  of  late  acted 
somewhat  as  lieutenant  to  the  great  evan- 
gelist, and  accompanied  him  on  his  short 
Welsh  tour.  At  eleven  o'clock  St.  Mark's 
Church  was  densely  crowded.  I  am  not 
greatly  skilled  in  such  matters,  but  it  seem- 
ed to  me  that  the  mode  of  conducting  the 


services  was  what  is  known  in  these  days  as 
"  High."  It  looked  strange,  and  contrast- 
ed strongly  with  the  simple,  unadorned  ser- 
vices of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  which 
have  formed  the  staple  of  my  church-going 
for  six  monfhs  past,  to  see  a  choir  of  thirty 
men  and  boys  slowly  marching  up  the  cen- 
tre aisle,  followed  by  the  Vicar  and  Mr. 
Aitken  in  parti-colored  robes.  Everything 
was  "intoned,"  to  the  "Amens"  of  the 
congregation.  Any  formality,  however,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  service  was  soon  for- 
gotten in  the  powerful  and  heart-search- 
ing sermon  of  Mr.  Aitken,  on  the  words, 
"  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready." 

Prayer-meetings  were  held  in  the  after- 
noon in  various  of  the  Sunday-schools,  and 
at  an  early  hour  a  large  crowd  had  collect- 
ed in  the  beast-market,  where  Mr.  Moody 
was  to  speak.  This  triangular  space  in 
one  of  the  outskirts  of  the  town  is  about  an 
acre  and  a  half  in  extent,  and  a  rough  but 
substantial  platform  was  erected  for  Mr. 
Moody,  the  ministers  and  choir,  etc.,  at  one 
side  of  it,  in  front  of  the  National  School- 
house,  which  was  intended  for  use  as  an 
inquiry-room.  As  it  turned  out,  it  was  not 
brought  into  requisition  for  that  purpose. 
Long  before  six  o'clock  (the  hour  fixed  for 
beginning  the  service)  the  market  was 
crowded  closely  from  end  to  end,  except  at 
the  extreme  ends,  where  it  was  neither  pos- 
sible to  see  or  hear.  The  people  must 
have  flocked  from  all  the  surrounding  dis- 
tricts, as  it  was  freely  asserted  that  20,000 
persons  were  present  ;  and  judging  from 
the  vast  sea  of  heads  that  was  presented  to 
view  from  the  platform,  and  the  area  cover- 
ed by  the  closely-packed  multitude,  I  am 
not  disposed  largely  to  reduce  this  estimate. 
Mr.  Sankey's  hymns  were  sung  for  some 
time,  led  by  an  efficient  local  choir,  and, 
as  a  variation,  a  Welsh  verse  w^as  sung  to  a 
beautifully  plaintive  air,  which  carried  me 
away  to  a  Highland  churchyard,  where  the 
Gaelic-speaking  population  meet  periodi- 
cally to  observe  the  Lord's  Supper.  It 
was  joined  in  more  heartily  even  than  Mr. 
Sankey's  hymns,  and  testified  to  the  affec- 
tion of  the  Welsh  people  for  their  native 
language. 

When  Mr.  Moody  arrived,  and  saw  the 
immense  congregation,  he  expressed  his 
doubts  as  to  whether  he  could  mak|  them 
all  hear,  and  suggested  that  an  adjourn- 
ment should  be  made  to  an  adjoining  field, 
where  a  more  central  position  could  be  got 
for  the  speaker.  As  all  the  preparations 
were  made,  however,  he  agreed  to  go  on 


so 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


with  the  service,  though,  as  it  turned  out, 
his  opinion  was  the  correct  one. 

"  The  old,  old  storj', 
Of  Jesus  and  his  love," 

was  the  opening  hymn,  and  then  Mr. 
Moody  phniged  into  his  discourse  from  the 
text,  "The  Son  of  Man  is  come  to  seek 
and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  He 
pitched  his  voice  in  a  high  key,  and  labored 
hard  to  make  his  audience  hear,  but  it  was 
evident  from  the  moving  of  the  outside  por- 
tion of  the  crowd  that  he  was  only  partial- 
ly successful.  He  was  very  earnest,  and 
the  sermon,  which  we  had  before  heard 
him  give  many  times,  seemed  as  fresh  as 
at  first,  many  of  the  illustrations  being  told 
with  thrilling  effect.  After  speaking  for 
about  twenty  minutes,  his  voice  seemed  to 
be  fast  giving  way  under  the  great  strain  to 
which  he  was  subjecting  it,  and  he  wisely 
closed  the  discourse.  After  prayer  he  an- 
nounced that  a  service  would  be  held  in 
the  field  in  half  an  hour,  when  Mr.  Aitken 
would  preAch. 

To  the  field  multitudes  flocked  accord- 
ingly, though  a  good  many  went  away,  the 
second  gathering  being  a»good  deal  smaller 
than  that  in  the  market-place,  but  still 
large  enough  to  form  an  hnposing  congre- 
gation. Mr.  Moody  having  recovered  his 
voice,  proceeded  thither  also,  and  himself 
resumed  addressing  the  people,  being  heard 
freely  by  all.  He  asked  and  answered  the 
question,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
and  his  words  were  carried  home  with  such 
power  that  a  number  held  up  their  hands  at 
the  close  as  desirous  of  being  prayed  for. 
An  invitation  was  extended  to  those  who 
were  really  anxious  for  salvation  to  go  to 
the  Public  Hall ;  and  upwards  of  thirty  re- 
sponded, and  were  conversed  with  by  Mr. 
Moody  and  others,  and  subsequently  ad- 
dressed by  Mr.  Aitken.  The  record  of 
such  as  were  saved  through  the  day's  ser- 
vices is  on  high,  but,  at  all  events,  the 
good  seed  was  unsparingly  and  faithfully 
sown  ;  to  fructify  in  eternal  life,  we  hope 
and  believe,  to  many  of  our  Welsh  coun- 
trymen and  women.  The  weather  was 
beautifully  fine,  and  this  added  much  to  the 
comfort  and  picturesqueness  of  the  out- 
door proceedings. 
■ 

SERVICES    AT   ROSSETT. 

Next  day,  the  2d  inst.,  the  pretty  little 
village  of  Rossett,  about  five  miles  north 


of  Wrexham,  was  invaded  by  a  multitude 
of  people  such  as,  I  suppose,  it  lias  never 
witnessed  before,  and  jnobably  never  will 
again.  Mr.  Moody  was  advertised  to  lay 
the  foundation-stone  of  a  new  chapel  be- 
longing to  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  body 
at  3.45  p.  M.,  and  afterwards  to  give  a  Gos- 
pel address  at  4.30  in  the  park  surrounding 
Mr.  Balfour's  residence  at  Mount  AUyn. 
Early  in  the  day  the  people  began  to  con- 
verge on  the  spot  where  the  ceremony  was 
to  be  performed,  coming  from  all  points  of 
the  compass,  and  by  all  sorts  of  convey- 
ance. The  day  was  dry  and  warm  ;  the 
roads  were  very  dusty.  A  crowd  clustered 
around  the  intended  site  of  the  chapel,  and 
some  hymns  were  given  out,  but  being  on 
the  edge  of  a  narrow  roadway,  only  a  small 
proportion  of  the  assembled  concourse 
could  get  near. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  give  the  de- 
tails of  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  founda- 
tion and  memorial-stones,  which  was  per- 
formed with  great  good-humor  and  anxious 
care  by  Mr.  Moody  and  Mrs.  Balfour,  in- 
conveniently hemmed  in  as  they  were  by  a 
curious  crowd  of  onlookers. 

The  ceremony  being  over,  Mr.  Moody 
and  the  friends  who  accompanied  him  drove 
to  Mr.  Balfour's  fine  and  extensive  park, 
followed  by  a  multitude  of  people,  which, 
when  completely  assembled,  must  have 
numbered  some  10,000.  Here,  standing 
in  the  carriage,  Mr.  Moody  once  more  pro- 
claimed the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  from 
the  story  of  Nicodemus  and  his  conversa- 
tion with  Christ  on  the  new  birth.  Mr. 
Moody  was  listened  to  with  the  most  de- 
vout attention,  and  at  the  close  of  a  long 
and  most  earnest  address  some  dozen 
hands  were  lifted  in  answer  to  his  appeal. 
Mr.  Aitken  supplied  Mr,  Sankey's  place,  in 
his  much-regretted  absence,  and  led  the 
singing  as  well  as  offered  prayer.  Under 
the  circumstances  an  inquiry-meeting  was 
hardly  possible,  and  the  benediction  being 
pronounced,  the  great  crowd  slowly  melted 
away,  much  gratified,  I  doubt  not,  at  hav- 
ing seen  and  heard  the  eminent  evangelist, 
but  above  all,  I  hope,  more  desirous  of 
profiting  by  "  the  words  of  this  life  "  which 
had  been  so  earnestly,  though  simply,  pro- 
claimed. Mr.  Moody  cannot  fail  to  carry 
with  him  to  his  own  country  a  fragrant  re- 
membrance of  the  short  season  spent  in 
Wales,  and  the  honor  so  universally  accord- 
ed to  him,  both  for  his  own  and  for  his  Mas- 
ter's sake. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


.St 


VIII. 

IN    LIVERPOOL  — FAREWELL    TO 
GREAT  BRITAIN. 

In  few  of  the  towns  visited  by  Messrs, 
Moody  and  Sankey  during  the  past  two 
years  has  the  work  of  their  hands  prospered 
more  than  in  Liverpool.  We  call  to  mind 
with  thanksgiving  the  wonderful  scenes  we 
were  wont  to  witness  in  the  Victoria  Hall 
during  the  month  of  February  last  —  the 
"eager,  anxious  throng"  that  waited  pa- 
tiently outside  the  doors  for  hours,  despite 
the  intense  frost  and  cold  that  then  prevail- 
ed ;  the  multitudes  who  stood  on  their  feet 
requesting  prayer  at  Mr.  Moody's  call ;  and 
the  long  array  of  anxious  seekers  who  filed 
into  the  large  inquiry-room  behind  the  plat- 
form, filling  it  to  the  doors,  so  that  the 
great  hall  itself  had  to  be  brought  into  requi- 
sition for  the  same  gracious,  happy  work 
of  pointing  the  sin-sick,  weary  souls  to  Him 
who  alone  can  give  rest.  After  our  brethren 
left  Liverpool  for  the  metropolis,  the  work 
of  revival  was  sustained  with  more  than 
usual  vigor  and  completeness  of  organiza- 
tion, and  amid  tokens  of  the  most  unques- 
tionable success.  The  work  among  the 
young  men  of  Liverpool,  and  the  efforts  that 
have  sprung  out  of  the  services  held  in  the 
Circus,  have  been  simply  wonderful.  The 
past  six  months  have  been  very  eventful 
ones  in  the  spiritual  history  of  thousands  in 
Liverpool.  In  view  of  this,  and  seeing 
that  Liverpool  was  the  point  of  the  evan- 
gelists' departure  from  our  shores,  it  was 
fitting  that  their  final  words  of  farewell  to 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  should  be  utter- 
ed here.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a  local  in- 
terest attaching  to  the  meetings  on  Tues- 
day and  Wednesday  of  last  week,  but  the 
occasion  was  almost  a  national  —  I  had 
almost  said  an  international — one.  There 
were  friends  present  from  many  parts  of  the 
country,  and  Mr.  Moody's  long  and  impor- 
tant farewell  address  will  be  read  with  in- 
terest, and,  we  trust,  profit,  all  over  the 
world,  as  it  was  heard  by  those  who  were 
present.  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  the 
announcement  of  the  farewell  services  gave 
great  satisfaction,  and  the  demand  for  tick- 
ets for  the  meetings  on  Tuesday,  the  3d 
inst,  was  far  in  excess  of  the  supply. 

I  arrived  in  Liverpool  on  Monday  even- 
ing. The  long  train  which  carried  us  to 
Chester  was  so  crowded  that  I,  with  about 
forty  others,  was  fain  to  clamber  into  the 


guard's  van,  and  take  refuge  among  the 
heaps  of  luggage,  notwithstanding  that  the 
journey  had  to  be  performed  with  scarcely 
any  light  and  less  ventilation.  From  the' 
landing-stage  I  proceeded  straight  to  the 
Circus,  which  I  found  well  filled  with  the 
after-meeting,  presided  over  by  that  de- 
voted servant  of  the  Lord,  Major  Cole. 
One  of  Mr.  Moody's  oldest  and  best  friends, 
Mr.  J.  V.  Farwell,  of  Chicago,  was  giving 
testimony  for  Christ  in  his  own  unpreten- 
tious, but  most  telling  way.  Others  fol- 
lowed, and  before  the  gathering  dispersed 
there  was  yet  a  third  meeting  for  conversa- 
tion with  the  anxious,  of  whom  there  seem- 
ed to  be  not  a  few. 

The  noon  prayer-meeting  on  Tuesday  at 
Victoria  Hall  was  very  well  attended — more 
largely,  I  suppose,  than  usual — and  Avas  a 
deaply  interesting  one.  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  were  not  present.  The  ad- 
dress and  the  prayers  were  felt  to  be  a  very 
appropriate  introduction  to  the  memorable 
gatherings  that  followed  in  the  after  part 
of  the  day.  It  was  announced  that  the 
Hall  must  be  emptied,  otherwise  a  large 
number  would  have  remained  for  the  two 
hours  that  intervened  before  the  afternoon, 
meeting,  in  order  to  secure  their  places. 

AFTERNOON    CONFERENCE. 

About  a  quarter  to  three  o'clock,  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey,  with  many  well-know-n. 
friends,  emerged  from  the  trap  door  in  the 
middle  of  the  platform,  and  were  greeted 
by  an  audience  that  crowded  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  great  building.  The 
heartiness  of  the  welcome  found  vent  in  a 
universal  clapping  of  hands,  which,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Moody  speedily  stopped  by  a 
wave  of  his  hand.  Some  kind  friends  had 
placed  very  beautiful  bouquets  of  flowers 
on  Mr.  Sankey's  organ — a  custom  which  is,  I 
believe,  common  in_  American  churches, 
and,  within  certain  hmits,  a  very  pleasant 
and  unobjectionable  one.  It  would  be  in- 
vidious to  mention  the  names  of  those  on 
the  platform  without  giving  all,  but  it  will 
be  sufficient  to  say  that  they  included  most 
of  the  local  friends  of  the  movement,  and 
many  from  London,  Manchester,  etc.,  and 
also  from  Scotland. 

In  the  course  of  the  opening  exercises, 
Mr.  Sankey  sang  alone  two  verses  of  the 
fourteenth  hymn,  "  Tell  me  the  old,  old 
story," — and  here  my  opinion  must  conflict 
with  that  of  the  correspondent  of  a  con- 
temporary last  week,  who  asserts  that  "  the 
timb7'e  of  Mr.  Sankey's  voice  is  perceptibly 


52 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


impaired."  I  was  struck  Avith  the  clearness 
and  rich  quaUty  of  Mr.  Sankey's  tones,  and 
the  circumstance  was  to  nie  most  gratify- 
ing. It  would  be  no  cause  for  wonder  if, 
after  the  constant  strain  of  two  years'  daily 
public  singing  in  all  states  of  this  change- 
able climate,  his  voice  should  be  affected, 
but  as  far  as  I  am  capable  of  judging,  it 
seemed  on  this  occasion  to  ring  out  with 
more  power  and  exi)ression  than  ever.  And 
considering  the  great  work  that  we  all  hope 
lies  before  our  brother  in  his  own,  and,  it 
may  be,  other  lands,  I  repeat  that  this  is 
matter  of  genuine  satisfaction  and  thank- 
fulness. 

Mr.  Moody  read  })art  of  the  105th  and 
107th  Psalms,  and  from  the  12th  Chapter  of 
Isaiah,  and  said  he  wished  to  give  two  key- 
notes for  the  addresses  that  should  follow ; 
his  turn  to  speak  would  come  in  the  even- 
ing. The  first  thing  was  to  i)raise  God  for 
■what  he  had  done — to  praise  God  and  not 
man.  He  would  call  to  order  any  one  who 
attempted  to  praise  man ;  we  want  to  get 
man  out  of  sight,  and  exalt  Christ.  The 
next  thing  was  to  "  advance."     What  were 

•  they  going  to  do  ?     His  faith   had  grown 

*  since  he  had  been  in  this  country,  and  he 
did  not  know  why  Christians  should  not  go 

'  out  and  possess  the  land, 

\  The  first  address  was  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Aitken,  who  said  he  thought  they  could  not 
meet  in  that  hall  without  feeling  that  the 
departure  of  their  dear  friends  for  America 
very  greatly  enhanced  the  personal  respon- 
sibility of  all  who  called  themselves  Chris- 
tians. The  blessing  which  God  had  been 
pleased  to  shower  upon  His  work  in  various 
parts  of  the  land  had  put  them  on  a  van- 
tage-ground, for  they  occupied  a  better  po- 
sition now  than  they  ever  occupied  before 
in  this  land.  He  did  not  believe  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  had  ever  occupied  a 
better  position  in  this  land  than  it  did  at 
the  present  moment ;  and  if  that  was  so, 
their  responsibility  must  be  proportionately 
heavy.  And  if  they  allowed  themselves 
to  lose  their  vantage-ground  and  slip  back 
into  the  dull  routine  of  the  past,  they  would 
have  themselves  to  blame.  The  question 
before  them  was  a  very  practical  one,  and 
it  was,  How  were  they  to  push  on  the  ad- 
vantage ?  If  they  were  really  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity,  they  must  expect 
further  successes.  He  was  apprehensive 
of  Christian  people  allowing  themselves  to 
think  that  the  period  of  reaction  had  come 
— that  they  had  been  having  such  great  en- 
couragement that  for  a  little  time  they  must 


rest  on  their  oars.  If  they  i)laced  them- 
selves in  this  attitude,  they  would  have 
themselves  to  thank  for  it,  if  God  turned 
the  heavens  above  into  brass,  and  made  the 
earth  as  iron  beneath  their  feet ;  therefore 
he  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  sound 
this  note  of  warning.  He  thought  that 
their  attitude  should  be  this  :  That  they 
should  thank  God,  and  then  rush  on  against 
the  foe  with  fresh  determination,  believing 
that  the  victory  was  only  commencing,  and 
that  inasmuch  as  God  had  given  them  a 
position  of  advantage,  they  must  push  it  on 
and  fight  the  battle  out,  until  God  in  His 
own  good  time  placed  the  crown  of  victory 
on  their  brow. 

How  was  this  to  be  done  ?  God  ex- 
pected every  one  of  them  to  come  forward 
with  the  gosi)el  of  grace  in  their  hearts  ; 
and  if  they  realized  their  personal  respon- 
sibility and  went  into  the  battle  fully  de- 
termined to  win  souls  for  Christ,  England 
would  very  soon  feel  the  results  of  their 
efforts.  He  desired  to  warn  them  against 
this  season  of  revival  being  followed  by  a 
period  of  reaction.  Before  the  present 
work  closed,  he  thought  that  ministers  of 
Christ  and  also  lay  people,  especially  those 
who  occupied  infiuential  positions,  should 
ask  themselves  solemnly  what  were  the 
permanent  lessons  which  had  been  brought 
before  them  in  this  great  movement,  Mr. 
Moody  had  given  himself  up  to  the  work 
of  evangelization,  and  he  (Mr.  Aitken) 
could  not  help  believing  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  from  a  very  remote  period  had 
practically  ignored  the  evangelist's  office. 
They  had  their  local  pastors,  but  he  thought 
that  the  evangelist  was  more  likely  to  be 
powerful  in  a  locality  where  he  was  not 
permanently  fixed  than  in  his  own  country. 
It  they  were  desirous  to  see  God's  work 
still  carried  on  on  a  large  scale,  those  whom 
God  had  in  a  large  measure  gifted  with 
the  power  of  the  evangelist  should  con- 
sider whether  they  could  give  themselves 
entirely  to  the  work.  He  had  done  so, 
but  he  utterly  disclaimed  all  credit  on 
that  score.  He  did  not  think  he  should 
have  had  the  courage  to  take  that  step, 
but  domestic  circumstances  had  rendered 
it  imperatively  necessary  that  he  should 
leave  his  flock  in  Liverpool.  He  had,  how- 
ever, long  been  convinced  of  this  truth, 
that  if  a  man  was  to  be  a  practical  evan- 
gelist, he  must  give  himself  over  to  the 
work ;  and  he  called  upon  God's  people 
to  take  this  matter  into  serious  consider- 
ation, and  say  that  the  great  work  which 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


53 


had  been  undertaken  must  be  followed  up 
in  all  our  towns  and  villages,  for  he  be- 
lieved that  even  the  villages  needed  it 
more  than  the  towns. 

A  great  responsibility  also  rested  on  the 
ministers  of  Christ.  In  almost  all  the 
places  where  the  wave  of  blessing  had 
passed,  there  would  be  a  large  number  of 
young  converts  who  had  given  themselves 
over  to  God  and  wanted  something  to  do. 
Their  duty  at  this  moment  was  to  set  all 
those  young  Christians  to  work.  There 
were  a  great  many  ministers  who  fell  into 
the  mistake  of  trying  to  do  all  the  work 
themselves.  What  was  wanted  to  be  done 
was  to  find  specific  spiritual  work  for  those 
who  had  given  themselves  to  God,  and  en- 
courage them  ;  and  he  wished  to  point  out 
that  unless  this  was  done  they  must  be  the 
last  persons  to  find  fault  with  those  extrav- 
agances which  otherwise  must  develop 
themselves.  If,  instead  of  young  converts 
being  taken  by  the  hand,  they  were  left  in 
the  rear  and  not  given  any  kind  of  encour- 
agement, the  result  would  be  that  they 
would  either  draw  themselves  up  in  their 
shells  altogether,  or  rush  into  the  opposite 
extreme. 

It  seemed  to  him  that  now  was  the 
golden  opportunity  ;  and  unless  they  got 
their  young  Christians  to  work  they  would 
have  to  regret  it  to  the  end  of  their  days. 
If  after  the  departure  of  their  American 
brethren  they  resolved  to  have  a  holiday 
time  of  it,  then  good-bye  to  their  usefulness, 
and  God's  blight  would  rest  upon  them  in- 
stead of  God's  blessing ;  whereas  if  they 
put  themselves  into  God's  hand,  depend 
upon  it  this  wave  of  blessing  which  had 
swept  over  the  land  was  but  the  beginning 
of  good  things.  He  closed  his  stirring  and 
practical  address  in  the  words  of  Wesley, 
which,  he  said,  used  to  be  sung  at  the  close 
of  his  conferences  : 

"  A  rill,  a  stream,  a  torrent  flows, 
But  send  the  mighty  flood  ; 
Awake  the  nations,  shake  the  earth, 
Till  all  proclaim  Thee  God." 

The  Rev.  A.  N.  Somerville  spoke  next, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
meeting  was  fairly  electrified,  as  "  the  old 
man  eloquent"  poured  out  the  wealth  of 
his  declamation  and  illustration  in  a  perfect 
torrent  of  burning  words,  accompanied  by 
highly  dramatic  and  expressive  gestures.  H« 
said  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  did  not 
want  them  to  occupy  time  by  throwing  their 
arms  round  their  necks  and  kissing  them, 


but  they  had  given  them  the  motto,  and 
that  was  to  "  advance."  What,  he  asked, 
is  our  great  encouragement?  "All  power 
is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  earth  ;  go 
ye  therefore  and  teach  (or  disciple)  all  na- 
tions." Just  before  Christ  ascended  He 
said,  "  Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  Me  in  Judea  and 
Jerusalem,  and  unto  the  uttermost  ends  of 
the  earth."  Why  did  the  Lord  Jesus  tell 
us  He  had  received  all  power?  That  He 
might  confer  power  upon  us.  Mr.  Somer- 
ville recounted  the  exploits  of  the  mighty 
men  in  the  days  of  the  Judges,  upon  whom 
the  power  of  God  fell  and  proceeded.  The 
day  has  come  when  it  will  not  do  for  us  to 
remain  within  this  little  isle.  Larger  ef- 
forts must  be  made  to  proclaim  Christ's 
name  throughout  the  world.  We  read  that 
Alexander  the  Great,  while  a  young  man 
(he  died  before  he  was  thirty-two),  crossed 
the  Hellespont  with  only  35,000  infantry 
and  5,000  horsemen.  He  had  provisions 
and  money  to  last  them  only  one  month, 
yet  they  went  forth  and  took  possession  of 
the  world.  What  !  Is  Alexander  the  Great 
to  be  always  spoken  of  as  the  only  man 
who  can  do  the  like  of  this  ?  Is  Jesus 
Christ  not  strong?  Why  should  we  not 
gather  round  Him,  and  in  the  power  of  His 
Spirit  take  possession  of  the  world  ?  We 
must  not  only  send  out  men  to  engage  in 
this  blessed  work,  but  the  whole  Church 
must  by  prayer  and  sympathy,  by  the  voice 
of  encouragement,  and  by  liberal  support, 
work  together  as  one  man  for  this  great 
end.  When  I  was  in  India,  I  felt  that 
wherever  I  went  I  was  borne  up  by  the 
sympathy  and  prayers  of  many  dear  friends 
in  my  own  city  of  Glasgow,  in  Edinburgh, 
in  London,  and  in  many  parts  of  the  world 
besides,  and  I  was  strong  through  their 
sympathy.  If  a  man  is  sympathized  with 
and  encouraged  in  that  way,  he  will  do 
twice  as  much  as  he  would  do  otherwise. 
Mr.  Somerville  illustrated  the  power  of 
sympathy  by  telling  how  Alexander  the 
Great  was  traversing  a  desert  with  his  fol- 
lowers, who  were  suffering  greatly,  from 
thirst.  Some  one  brought  him  a  little 
water  in  a  helmet,  and  as  he  was  about  to 
partake  of  the  precious  refreshment,  he 
looked  towards  his  followers,  and  seeing 
their  sufferings,  he  refiised  to  drink.  His 
men  were  roused  to  action  by  the  sympathy 
thus  shown  by  their  leader  ;  they  put  their 
spurs  to  their  horses,  and  sped  on  to  a 
place  where  relief  could  be  found.     Speak- 


54 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ing  of  the  necessity  of  humility  in  Christian 
work,  he  quoted  a  beautifully  apt  simile,  in 
the  use  of  which  he  seems  to  excel.  He 
said  the  Rhine  before  it  reached  Basle  re- 
ceived no  fewer  than  1,200  tributaries. 
How  was  this  ?  It  was  by  keeping  at  its 
lowest  level  If  it  had  not,  these  streams 
would  have  flowed  somewhere  else.  He 
roused  the  audience  to  such  a  pitch  of  ex- 
citement, that  when  he  sat  down  they  burst 
into  applause,  which  no  attempt  was  made 
to  suppress. 

Mr.  Sankey  then  sang  "  My  Prayer,"  a 
beautiful  hymn  of  consecration.  He  pref- 
aced it  by  saying  that  he  would  be  able  to 
go  out  and  work  better  if  we  had  the  bless- 
ing of  which  the  hymn  told. 

Dr.  Barnardo  then  gave  an  address,  in 
the  course  of  which  he  said  the  question 
was  frequently  asked,  "  How  shall  we  reach 
the  masses  ?  "  He  knew  only  of  one  an- 
swer :  "  Go  and  preach  Christ  to  them." 
That  must  be  the  bait ;  but  there  must  be 
something  more  than  that.  Not  only  must 
they  preach  Christ  in  His  boundless  love  to 
a  dying  world,  but  there  must  be  the  hook 
— such  an  application  of  the  truth  as  should 
enter  men's  hearts  and  draw  them  to  the 
Saviour.  What  was  the  great  prerequisite  to 
success  ?  It  was  given  in  the  two  words  of 
our  Saviour,  "  Follow  me."  That  was  the 
secret  of  successful  service  :  there  was  no 
royal  road  ;  their  brother,  Mr.  Moody,  had 
no  knack  in  it.  God  help  them  to  follow 
Christ,  that  they  may  be  truly  fishers  of 
men. 

Mr,  Stalker,  of  Edinburgh,  said  he  felt 
that  the  past  two  years  had  been  years  of 
great  importance  to  the  whole  country,  and 
would  be  remembered  for  many  years 
to  come  as  great  years.  One  thing  that 
had  made  them  interesting  and  memorable 
was  that  religion  had  been  made  respected 
among  the  young  men  of  the  country. 
Young  men  had  been  apt  to  look  down 
upon  evangelical  religion  ;  but  in  the  part 
he  came  from  they  dared  not  do  that  now, 
because  in  all  classes  of  the  community  the 
very  backbone  of  these  young  men  had 
been  won  to  Christ,  and  they  were  bearing 
themselves  so  in  the  ordinary  business  of 
life  that  it  was  impossible  for  those  around 
them  not  to  respect  them.  He  never 
thought  of  this  movement  without  his  mind 
wandering  away  into  the  future  ;  and  he 
thought  not  only  of  the  number  of  men 
who  had  been  saved,  but  of  the  young  men 
■who  were  devoted  to  Christ  going  on  in 
their  various  spheres — in  the  family,  in  so- 


cial intercourse,  in  business,  at  the  Univer- 
sity, in  their  shops,  as  clerks,  and  in  all 
the  different  walks  in  life — distinguishing 
themselves,  and  showing  that  their  Chris- 
tianity, instead  of  keeping  them  back,  was 
helping  them  on  ;  that  their  spiritual  regen- 
eration had  been  at  the  same  time  moral 
and  intellectual  regeneration  ;  and  that  they 
were  determined  to  be  men  in  all  the  de- 
partments of  life.  He  read  often  with  pity 
the  remarks  made  by  some,  of  the  weak- 
ness of  those  who  took  part  in  thig  move- 
ment. At  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
last  April,  there  were  only  six  or  seven 
men  who  secured  first  class  honors,  and 
three  of  these  were  head  and  shoulders  in 
this  work.  Only  one  man  got  what  was 
called  a  "double  first,"  and  that  man  he  had 
heard  addressing  these  revival  meetings. 
That  was  the  kind  of  revival  of  religion  they 
were  having  now ;  and  he  thanked  God  for 
it  with  all  his  heart,  for  their  preaching  to 
young  men  was  far  more  effective  if  they 
could  show  them  that  their  reHgion  was 
making  them  get  on  well  in  business,  and 
do  their  business  well,  and  come  to  the 
front  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life.  Let 
them  seek  to  serve  God  by  doing  their 
work  thoroughly,  and  at  the  same  time 
standing  on  that  vantage  ground,  exhort 
all  their  brethren  to  get  that  which  had 
made  men  of  them, 

Dr,  Ziemann,  of  Manchester,  then  briefly 
addressed  the  convention,  pointing  out  the 
evangelical  work  that  was  being  carried  on 
in  Manchester,  and  said  that  many  young 
men  in  that  city  had  taken  part  in  the 
movement,  and  were  determined  to  carry  it 
on  to  victory.  He  asked  those  whom  he 
addressed  to  continue  the  fight,  and  let 
their  watchword  be  "Victory." 

THE  EVENING  MEETING. 

In  a  touching  chapter  of  family  biog- 
raphy, that  Mr.  Moody  w^as  wont  to  use  for 
illustration,  he  spoke  of  Thanksgiving  Day 
in  America,  the  observance  of  which  brings 
all  the  scattered  members  of  the  household 
together.  We  were  strongly  reminded  of 
this  by  the  great  gathering  of  friends  who 
had  come  from  far-off  parts  of  the  country 
to  be  present  at  the  farewell  services  and 
departure  next  day.  Many  who  had  taken 
an  active  part  in  the  London  services  came 
down  expressly  to  say  good-bye  to  their 
Evangelist  Brethren,  and-  not  a  few  bad 
come  from  across  the  border,  as  well  as  the 
other  English  towns. 

We  have  seldom  had  to  record  anything 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


55 


else  but  crowded  meetings  in  connection 
with  Messrs.  Moody  andSankey's  services, 
but  this  last  evening  meeting  of  all  must 
have  been — if  that  were  possible — more 
crowded  than  any.  As  one  of  the  local 
papers  of  next  day  puts  it :  "  Every  inch  of 
space  where  a  person  could  sit,  or  stand,  or 
crouch,  was  occupied."  As  a  consequence, 
the  heat  was  exceedingly  great,  and  in 
order  to  obtain  more  ventilation,  some  re- 
sorted to  the  dangerous  expedient  of 
breaking  the  windows.  As  the  hall  was 
filled  to  overflowing  long  before  seven 
o'clock,  the  time  was  profitably  used  in 
singing  the  well-known  hymns,  in  prayer, 
and  in  the  delivery  of  short  addresses  by 
various  friends. 

Mr.  Sankey  sang,  "I  am  praying  for 
you,"  and  before  doing  so,  he  said  :  "When 
we  are  gone  from  among  you,  we  hope 
that  you  will  remember  to  pray  for  us,  as 
we  will  surely  remember  to  pray  for  you. 
Pray  God  that  He  may  use  us  in  our  own 
dear  land  as  He  has  used  us  here,  and  even 
more  abundantly.  May  the  blessing  of  God 
rest  upon  the  singing  of  this  hymn  to-night." 

Mr.  Moody  then  commenced  his  address, 
and  spoke  for  more  than  an  hour,  but  to 
the  very  last  there  was  the  most  rapt  atten- 
tion. By  some  means  the  gas  could  not  be 
lit,  and  as  the  fading  twilight  deepened 
into  darkness,  the  scene  became  intensely 
solemn,  as  Mr.  Moody's  earnest  and  some- 
times faltering  words  fell  on  the  hushed 
and  eagerly  attentive  multitude.  At  the 
close  of  his  address  he  offered  fervent 
prayer.  He  besought  God's  blessing  on 
England  and  America,  on  the  work  among 
the  young  men,  and  on  the  ministers,  his 
utterances  anon  being  stayed  by  his  evident 
emotion. 

Mr.  Sankey's  voice  found  expression 
for  the  last  time  in  the  farewell  hymn 
which  he  has  sung  at  many  of  the  towns 
visited,  though  not  in  London.  As  Mr. 
Sankey  sang  it,  by  the  light  of  a  candle,  to 
the  justly  popular  tune  of  "Home,  Sweet 
Home,"  the  audience  was  much  moved.  It 
was  the  last  time  many  of  them  will  prob- 
ably hear  Mr.  Sankey's  voice,  and  we  are 
sure  none  of  those  present  will  be  able  to 
forget  it. 

Before  the  meeting  was  dismissed,  Mr. 
Drysdale,  the  Secretary  of  the  Liverpool 
Committee,  announced  that  the  hall  would 
be  opened  for  continuous  services  in  Octo- 
ber next,  and  that  Mr.  Aitken  had  agreed 
to  take  the  first  week,  commencing  Sunday, 
October  3. 


Mr.  Moody  stated  during  his  address, 
and  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  many,  that 
a  service,  chiefly  for  young  men,  but  open 
to  all,  would  be  held  next  morning  at  half- 
past  seven  o'clock. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  after  the  general 
meeting,  a  few  friends  gathered  at  the 
Compton  Hotel,  and  two  or  three  hours 
were  spent  in  an  informal  conversation  on 
the  subject  always  uppermost  in  Mr. 
Moody's  thoughts — the  best  way  to  bene- 
fit young  men — to  conserve  and  utilize 
in  the  way  of  righteousness,  for  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  good  of  men,  the  young 
manhood  of  Great  Britain,  America,  and 
the  world.  Happily,  Mr.  Shipton,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  was  present,  and  he  entered 
heartily  into  the  feeling  of  all  present  that 
the  time  and  opportunity  had  come  in  the 
providence  of  God,  for  that  Association  to 
take  a  more  decided  stand  than  it  has  ever 
yet  done,  as  an  aggressive  organization 
for  the  evangelization  of  young  men.  It 
was  felt  that  the  various  branches  through- 
out the  country  may  become  much  more 
closely  and  intimately  allied  in  Christian 
work  than  hitherto,  and  that  as  so  very 
much  depends  on  the  secretaries,  as  to  the 
tone  and  conduct  of  each  branch,  it  was  felt 
to  be  of  the  first  importance  that  those  who 
occupied  a  position  of  such  influeiice  and 
trust  should  be  men  qualified  for  their  ofifice 
by  capacity  and  education,  as  well  as  by 
Christian  character  and  consistency,  and 
that  they  should  be  adequately  remunerat- 
ed. Mr.  Moody  remarked  concerning  this, 
that  it  is  easier  to  raise  ^^500  a  year  for  a 
well-qualified  man  than  ^100  for  an  in- 
ferior one  ;  for  people  will  give  liberally  and 
willingly  in  the  one  case,  but  grudgingly  or 
not  at  all  in  the  other. 

The  conversation  turned  upon  Manches- 
ter, and  the  amount  of  influence  for  good 
which  one  man  may  exercise  was  remark- 
ably illustrated  by  the  effect  of  Dr.  Ziemann's 
devotedness  and  energy  upon  the  noon 
prayer-meetings,  and  the  evangelistic  work 
generally,  since  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's 
departure  from  that  city  ;  and  it  was  felt  by 
all  that  men  like  Mr.  Henry  Drummond, 
whose  conduct  of  the  young  men's  meetings 
had  so  well  supplemented  the  work  of  our 
American  brethren,  are  needed  in  order,  that 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
throughout  our  land  should  develop  the 
power  and  usefulness  which  lie  latent  in 
them.  Mr.  Moody  also  mentioned  the 
case  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associ- 


56 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ation  at  Washington,  which  some  years  ago 
was  m  a  declining  condition,  but  soon  be- 
came one  of  the  most  important  and  suc- 
cessful branches  in  all  the  United  States, 
under  the  leadership  of  its  present  secre- 
tary, who  was  induced  to  give  up  his  posi- 
tion as  a  Wesleyan  minister,  in  order  to  de- 
vote himself  to  this  no  less  honorable  and 
influential  ministry.  When  it  was  proposed 
to  offer  him  the  post  of  secretary,  some  ob- 
jected that  he  was  a  Northern  man,  and 
would  be  unpojuilar  in  a  Southern  city ; 
others  said  that,  being  a  Methodist,  he 
would  be  objectionable  to  those  of  other 
denominations,  but  the  fact  that  a  man's 
personal  fitness  outweighs  all  difficulties  as 
to  his  circumstances  and  surroundings,  was 
signally  proved  in  this  case,  for  soon  this 
excellent  young  man  was  surrounded  by  a 
numerous  band  of  young  men  as  devoted 
as  himself,  who  were  so  much  attached  to 
him,  that  when  he  was  wanted  for  another 
sphere  they  absolutely  refused  to  let  him  go. 
We  believe  that  if  one  thing  more  than 
another  will  induce  Mr.  Moody  to  return 
to  Great  Britain,  it  will  be  the  desire  to 
weld  together  its  Christian  young  men  into 
a  band  of  fellow-laborers,  that,  by  the  ope- 
ration of  the  Sjtirit  of  God,  shall  be  in  the 
midst  of  many  peoples  as  a  dew  from  the 
Lord,  and  as  a  lion  among  the  beasts  of  the 
forest.  And  to  tell  the  truth,  we  expect 
that  it  will  not  be  years  before  we  see  our 
brethren  acjain  among  us. 

THE    LAST    SERVICE     IN     ENGLAND 

was  held  by  Mr.  Moody  on  the  morning  of 
their  departure,  so  that  we  may  say  they 
left  our  shores  "with  their  harness  on  their 
backs."     Mr.  Sankey  was  not  present. 

The  hall  was  opened  at  seven  o'clock,  by 
which  time  considerable  crowds  had  gath- 
ered at  all  the  doors,  and  before  Mr.  Moody 
made  his  appearance  at  twenty  minutes 
past  seven  there  were  some  5,000  or  6,000 
persons  in  the  hall.  After  praise  and  prayer, 
Mr.  Moody  read  part  of  the  first  Chapter 
of  Joshua  and  twenty-sixth  Chapter  of  Le- 
viticus. He  proceeded  to  give  a  short  ad- 
dress to  the  young  men,  the  first  part  of 
which  was  an  earnest  plea  for  a  systematic 
study  of  the  Bible  and  Bible  characters,  and 
for  union  with  some  organized  body  of 
Christians,  He  also  urged  on  them  the 
necessity  of  having  some  definite  work  to 
do,  and  not  to  attempt  too  many  things  at 
one  time.  "  I  have  been  wonderfully  cheer- 
ed," he  continued,  "during  the  past  months 
by  the  tidings  coming  from  Liverpool.     I 


want  to  say  from  the  depths  of  my  heart, 
God  bless  you,  young  men.  The  eyes  of 
Christendom  are  upon  you.  Perhaps  there 
has  not  been  a  place  where  the  work  has 
been  so  deep  and  thorough  as  the  work 
here  among  the  young  men.  I  believe  it 
was  in  answer  to  the  prayers  that  went  up 
for  it  when  we  were  here  six  months  ago. 
And  now,  as  we  cross  the  Atlantic,  it  will 
cheer  us  as  tidings  come  that  the  young  men 
are  still  advancing.  Do  not  fold  your  arms, 
and  say,  '  We  will  have  a  good  time  next 
fall.'  God  is  just  as  ready  to  work  in  Au- 
gust as  in  July.  If  some  have  gone  out  of 
town  on  their  holidays,  the  work  should  not 
stop  ;  I  think  it  is  the  best  time  to  work 
when  many  are  away.  Every  man  ought 
to  be  worth  the  five  or  six  that  are  away. 
Then  the  work  will  go  on.  The  great  re- 
vival at  Pentecost  was  in  the  hot  weather, 
and  also  in  a  very  hot  countr)'.  People 
think  there  cannot  be  any  interest  in  the 
warm  months  ;  but  if  the  prayer  goes  up 
to  the  throne,  God  does  not  look  to  see 
what  month  it  is.  He  is  as  ready  to  bless 
in  one  month  as  in  another.  Let  me  give 
you  the  watchword  we  had  yesterday  after- 
noon —  '  Advance.'  I  hope  there  will  be 
a  fresh  interest  awakened  in  Liverpool  as 
there  has  been  in  Manchester.  I  do  not 
know  of  anything  that  has  encouraged  me 
more  than  to  hear  of  the  work  going  on  in 
Manchester  for  the  last  six  weeks.  I  hope 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  will  shake  hands 
in  carrying  on  the  work,  and  let  the  lies  of 
those  sceptics  who  say  it  i»  only  'a  nine 
days'  wonder '  be  driven  back.  I  cannot 
talk  longer.  I  say  from  the  depths  of  my 
heart,  I  love  you  ;  God  bless  you,  and  may 
the  power  of  God  come  upon  you  this 
morning  afresh." 

In  his  prayer  that  followed,  Mr.  Moody 
made  special  reference  to  the  work  being 
carried  on  by  Major  Cole,  and  he  after- 
wards made  some  remarks,  urging  all  to 
support  and  help  on  these  labors. 

After  the  hymn,  "  Free  from  the  law," 
had  been  sung,  Mr.  Alexander  Balfour 
said,  "  I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  the 
proper  person  on  behalf  of  this  audience 
to  say  good-bye  to  our  dear  friend,  Mr. 
Moody,  and  our  absent  friend,  Mr.  San- 
key ;  but  I  feel  that  there  must  be  some 
mouthpiece  to  say  to  them  what  we  really 
do  feel.  We  thank  them  from  the  bot- 
tom of  our  hearts  and  souls  for  what  they 
have  come  here  and  done.  Unless  Mr. 
Moody  had  been  a  man  like  a  cannon 
ball  for   hardness  of  material,  for  direct- 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


57 


ness  of  aim,  and  for  strength  of  will,  he 
could  never  have  done  what  he  has  been 
privileged  by  God  to  do.  His  wisdom 
has  been  conspicuous  in  discovering  this 
— that  our  young  men  in  Liverpool  and 
elsewhere  in  this  country  have  been  great- 
ly neglected,  and  in  choosing  them  to  be,  for 
the  future,  not  merely  the  recipients  of  God's 
grace,  but  the  distributors  of  it.  I  do  feel 
that  Mr.  Moody,  in  having  given  so  much  at- 
tention to  our  young  men,  has  really  done 
the  right  thing.  Many  know  that  Liverpool 
has  been  a  curse  to  young  men.  They 
have  come  here  and  been  led  astray  into 
all  kinds  of  mischief  and  wickedness.  How 
many  broken  hearts  are  there  in  this  coun- 
try because  of  the  mischief  done  to  young 
men  in  Liverpool  !  On  behalf  of  the  moth- 
ers and  sisters  of  this  country,  I  want  to 
give  Mr.  Moody  the  most  heartfelt  vote  of 
thanks  that  it  is  in  my  power  to  convey ; 
and  on  behalf  of  thousands  who  shall  be 
influenced  by  the  young  men  in  Liverpool, 
I  want  to  convey  to  him  the  tribute  of  grati- 
tude for  what  he  has  done.  As  President 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
I  want  to  say  this :  That  it  is  our  purpose 
as  young  men  to  go  on  with  the  work  ;  and, 
by  God's  grace,  we  shall  not  go  back,  but 
advance  in  our  endeavor  to  do  our  duty 
before  God  and  men." 

Mr.  Moody,  in  reply,  simply  said,  "  I 
will  now  shake  hands  with  you  all  in  the 
person  of  the  President  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;"  and  the  meeting  having  been  closed, 
he  returned  to  the  Compton  Hotel,  sur- 
rounded by  a  large  crowd,  which  sang, 
"  Hold  the  Fort,"  and  the  "  Doxology  "  in 
the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel.  Many  of 
them  lingered  there  during  the  hour  and  a 
half  that  elapsed  before  Mr.  Moody,  Mrs. 
Moody,  and  family,  accompanied  by  a  large 
number  of  friends,  drove  away  to  the  land- 
ing-stage. They  were  followed  by  the  en- 
thusiastic cheers  of  the  assembled  multi- 
tude. Mr.  Sankey  stayed  at  the  residence 
of  a  friend,  and  so  escaped  much  of  the 
popular  attention  that  Mr.  Moody  had  to 
undergo. 


IX. 

THE  DEPARTURE. 

• 

A  SPECIAL  tender  was  provided  for  the 
conveyance  of  the  evangelists  and  their 
party  to  the  "  Spain  ;"  and  Mr.  Sankey,  who 
spent  the  night  at  Edge-lane,  and  most  of  the 
friends,  went  on  board  of  it  shortly  before 


Mr.  Moody.  As  Mr.  Sankey  passed  across 
the  landing-stage,  upon  which  a  large  num- 
ber of  people  had  assembled,  he  was  warmly 
cheered. 

There  was  a  large  gathering  of  people 
in  front  of  the  Compton  Hotel  to  see  Mr. 
Moody  leave.  As  Mr.  Moody  emerged 
from  the  hotel,  a  hearty  cheer  arose  from 
the  crowd,  and  people  rushed  to  the  door 
of  the  cab  on  each  side  to  shake  hands  with 
him,  and  bid  hini  good-bye.  The  cab  was, 
however,  immediately  driven  away  to  the 
stage  amidst  renewed  and  warm  cheering. 
For  some  time  i^rior  to  the  hour  at  which 
the  special  tender  was  to  leave  for  the 
"  Spain,"  people  began  to  assemble  on  the 
Prince's  pier  and  the  landing-stage,  and 
when  Mr.  Moody  arrived  there  were  several 
thousands  present.  A  wide  strip  of  the 
stage  was  kept  clear  by  the  police  for  the 
party  to  walk  to  the  tender,  and  as  Mr. 
Moody  went  on  board  he  was  heartily 
cheered,  which  he  acknowledged  by  bow- 
ing. When  the  company  \vere  all  on  board 
the  tender  steamed  away.  As  it  passed 
down  the  river  the  people  upon  the  pier 
and  the  landing-stage  cheered  with  increas- 
ed heartiness,  and  waved  their  ha1;s  and 
handkerchiefs.  Their  example  was  imi- 
tated by  the  people  on  the  ferry-boats  moor- 
ed at  the  stage  or  crossing  the  river ;  and 
when  the  cheering  had  subsided  the  people 
on  the  stage  struck  up  one  of  the  well- 
known  hymns.  The  sorrowful  counte- 
nances of  many  of  the  people  showed  that 
it  was  with  no  ordinary  feelings  of  regret 
that  they  saw  the  evangelists  going  away. 

The  tender  reached  the  "  Spain  "  about 
an  hour  before  the  time  for  the  ship  to 
weigh  anchor,  and  the  interval  was  fully  oc- 
cupied in  taking  leave  of  the  evangelists, 
and  in  receiving  from  them  or  conveying 
to  them  parting  words  of  comfort  and  en- 
couragement. Mr.  Moody  again  urged 
those  who  have  been  his  fellow-laborers  in 
this  and  other  districts  to  remain  united, 
and  to  carry  on  the  work  with  courage  and 
determination  ;  whilst  on  the  other  hand, 
there  were  very  numerous  expressions  of 
the  hope  that  a  success  equal  to  that  of  the 
last  two  years  may  attend  the  evangelists' 
labors  wherever  and  whenever  they  may  be 
resumed.  Many  of  the  leave-takings,  from 
their  intense  earnestness,  were  very  affect- 
ing. Only  when  the  "  Spain's"  anchor  was  • 
being  raised,  and  the  tender  was  upon  -the  ■ 
point  of  starting,  could  many  of  the  friends  > 
tear  themselves  away.  As  the  last  of  the 
people  "  for  the  shore "  were  leaving  the 


58 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ship,  those  who  were  already  on  board  the 
tender  sang  the  hymn,  "  Safe  in  the  arms 
of  Jesus."  As  the  "  Spain  "  moved  slowly 
down  the  river,  the  jieople  in  the  tender, 
•which  was  still  alongside,  cheered  heartily, 
and  the  passengers  on  board  the  "  Spain  " 
rei")lied  with  another  cheer,  and  the  waving 
of  handkerchiefs  and  hats.  As  the  ''  Spain  " 
passed  on  ahead,  the  people  in  the  tender 
sang  the  hymn,  "  Hold  the  Fort,"  and  af- 
terwards the  hymn,  "  Work,  for  the  night 
is  coming."  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr,  Sankey 
stood  at  the  bulwarks  of  the  "  Si)ain  "  and 
bowed  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs  until 
the  two  ships  were  out  of  sight  of  each 
other.  Shortly  before  the  tender  reached 
Liverpool,  piayer  was  offered  up  on  board 
by  Mr.  R.  Radcliff,  and  other  gentlemen 
for  the  safe  arrival  of  the  evangelists  at 
their  destination,  and  for  the  subsequent 
success  of  their  labors,  whether  carried  on 
in  England  or  America. 


X. 

"TWO  AND  TWO." 

ADDRESS  BY  DR.  A.  A.  EONAR,  OF  GI-ASGOW, 
AT  THE  MILDMAY  FAREWELL  MEETING, 
JULY  13. 

We  must  all  have  noticed  that  this  is  the 
manner  of  our  Lord  to  carry  on  important 
works  by  more  than  one  instrument ;  He 
likes  to  work  by  two.  He  sent  out  His  dis- 
ciples two  and  two  in  the  days  of  His  flesh. 
You  read  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that 
Paul  is  scarcely  ever  alone ;  it  is  Paul  and 
Earnabus,  or  Paul  and  Silas,  or  Paul  and 
Titus — always  somebody  helping. 

And  it  is  just  so  in  this  present  work. 
The  invitation  to  our  beloved  brethren  in 
America  was  sent  from  two — one  who  you 
all  knew  so  well  here,  Mr.  Pennefather, 
and  the  other  Mr,  Bainbridge — both  of 
(them  now  in  glory.  Then  when  God  was 
going  to  work  here.  He  sent  over  two 
/brethren,  both  now  so  well  known  amongst 

US. 

I  think  it  is  good  to  notice  this  ;  and  I 
noeice  it  for  another  reason.  It  brings  me 
to  ,a  passage  of  Scripture  that  will  be  inter- 
esfciEg  and  profitable  perhaps  ;  if  the  Lord 
use  lit,  it  cannot  but  be  profitable  to  us  all. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  cases  of  con- 
versisoi  in  all  the  Bible  was  wrought  by  two 
laen  \t  company  with  each  other — Peter  and 
John.  In  the  3d  chapter  of  Acts  we  find 
svixat  I  look   upon  as  the  most  singular 


instance  of  immediate  conversion  and  free 
salvation  that  we  have  in  the  whole  Word 
of  God  ;  and  it  is  by  the  instrumentality  ot 
iu<o  of  God's  servants,  as  we  have  said. 
You  recollect  the  lame  man  at  the  lieauti- 
ful  Gate  of  the  Temple,  He  had  been 
lame  for  forty  years,  and  did  not  wish  to  be 
anything  else  than  lame,  I  want  to  show 
you  how  he  was  a  grand  monument  of  free 
grace. 

He  went  to  the  Temple  —  carried,  I 
should  say,  up  the  fifteen  steps  of  the 
Corinthian  gate, — and  there  he  lay  to  beg. 
The  Temj)le  was  his  house  of  gain,  never 
his  place  of  worship.  He  did  not  go  to  the 
altar ;  he  did  not  go  in  any  way  to  praise 
God  in  that  Temple.  This  man  stood  out 
all  Christ's  ministry.  And  there  was  a  re- 
markable day,  when  he  must  have  seen  a 
tumult  in  the  temple — the  buyers  and  sel- 
lers driven  out  by  the  Saviour.  And  then 
the  day  of  Pentecost  came,  when  there 
were  three  thousand  souls  brought  to 
Christ.  He  must  have  seen  the  120  as 
they  passed  down  the  steps,  with  their 
countenances  changed ;  but  it  produced 
no  change  in  him.  He  was  there  to  get 
money,  for  it  was  money  he  wanted. 

And  yet  such  is  the  sovereign  grace  and 
power  of  God  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  this  man  was  wonderfully  in  a  few 
minutes  brought  out  of  darkness  into 
light.  Peter  and  John,  we  are  told  in 
the  chap';er,  were  going  into  the  Tem- 
ple, and  they  saw  this  man  carried  up 
before  them  and  laid  down  at  the  gate. 
And  it  is  said,  "  He  seeing  Peter  and  John, 
asked  an  alms."  I  do  not  think  he  had 
been  wont  to  do  so,  for  he  knew  that 
Christ's  disciples  were  very  poor.  But  I  sup- 
pose he  had  heard  that  the  Christians  had 
been  throwing  their  money  into  a  com- 
mon stock,  and  thinking  that  Peter  and 
John  would  have  money  to  give,  he  asked 
an  alms  of  them.  They  said  to  him,  "Look 
on  us,"  and  Peter,  as  the  spokesman,  said, 
"  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none,  but  such  as 
I  have  I  give  thee,"  He  held  out  his 
hand  as  he  said,  "  In  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk." 
He  held  out  his  hand,  as  much  as  to 
say,  "  Will  you  take  a  gift  to-day,  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  you 
have  despised  ?  " 

Now,  you  know,  this  was  a  time  when 
the  Holy  Ghost  was  working,  going  through 
Jerusalem  quickening  souls.  How  the 
scales  fell  from  the  man's  eyes  in  a  mo- 
ment !    The  man  is  healed  ;  and  not  only 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


59 


so,  but  he  is  saved.  He  stood,  and  he 
never  had  stood  before.  He  stood,  and 
then  he  leaped,  and  then  he  walked  ; — 
he  had  never  leaped  or  walked  before. 
Now  he  fblt  he  was  whole  in  body  ;  his 
ankle-bones  had  received  strength.  And 
that  he  was  whole  in  soul  is  quite  evi- 
dent from  Peter's  testimony  in  the  i6th 
verse  :  "  His  name,  through  faith  in  His 
name,  hath  made  this  man  strong ;  yea, 
the  faith  that  is  by  Him  hath  given  him 
this  perfect  soundness  in  the  presence  of 
you  all !  " 

I  wish  )'ou  to  notice  that  here  was  free 
salvation  given  to  this  lowest  of  sinners. 
No  questions  were  asked  about  his  for- 
mer life  •  no  payment  was  asked.  Did 
you  ever  notice  that  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost there  was  something  evidently  re- 
quired ;  they  were  pricked  in  their  heart 
for  some  hours  ?  But  here  the  man  is 
not  kept  a  minute  waiting.  He  gets  sal- 
vation like  a  flash  of  lightning  :  it  is  as 
sudden  as  it  is  free.  Heaven  flings  an 
alms  to  this  beggar,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
enables  him  to  close  his  hand  upon  the 
ransom-money.  I  do  not  know  a  more 
wonderful  case  of  sudden,  sure  conversion 
than  this,  and  no  case  in  which  you  can  so 
certainly  say,  "  He  paid  nothing  for  it." 

And  so  we  ask  sinners  here — for  it  is  not 
likely  that  all  here  are  saved — we  ask  any 
unsaved  one  to-day,  "  Will  you  '■ake  the 
gift  to-day  in  the  name  of  Jesus  >f  Naza- 
reth ?"  Away  to  the  Cross,  and  read  what  is 
written  there — "  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  Will 
you  grasp  the  Cross,  and,  as  you  look  in 
His  face,  say,  "  I  take  Him  ?"  This  is  the 
time  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  quickening 
souls  and  moving  the  hearts  of  n)en. 

How  did  the  man  that  was  made  whole 
and  saved  act  on  that  occasion  ?  It  is 
very  beautiful  to  notice  the  words — "  walk- 
ing and  leaping  and  praising  God."  The 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  praise  God,  and 
it  is  twice  stated  that  he  praised  God  as 
he  walked  on  the  Temple  floor.  Here 
was  the  lame  man  leaping  and  the  tongue 
of  the  dumb  singing,  and  I  am  sure  there 
never  was  a  song  so  sweet  sung  in  the 
choir  at  Jerusalem  as  was  the  new  song 
that  this  saved  man  sang  that  day  in  the 
ears  of  all  the  people. 

That  is  not  all.  Some  people  seem  to 
think  that  grace  does  not  allow  us  to  say 
anything  at  all  about  instruments — to  ignore 
them.  That  is  a  misunderstanding  of  grace. 
It  lea,ds  us  to  put  them  in  their  place,  but 
not  to  ignore  them.     This  man  teaches  us 


a  lesson.  Was  he  ashamed  of  Peter  and 
John  as  instruments  ?  Did  he  say,  "  I  will 
praise  the  Lord  ;  1  will  say  nothing  about 
these  men  ?"  No,  he  did  not.  In  the  nar- 
rative we  have  a  most  beautiful  account  of 
him.  As  the  lame  man,  it  is  said,  was 
walking  in  Solomon's  porch,  he  held  Peter 
and  John  by  the  hand\i\\\\Q  he  praised  God. 
He  does  not  seem  to  have  mentioned  their 
names,  but  then  he  would  not  let  them  go, 
and  all  the  while  he  sang  his  song  of  praise. 
He  acknowledged  the  instruments,  and 
praised  God  for  them.  Let  us  do  the  same 
to-day. 

Do  you  want  me  to  say  a  little  about 
Glasgow  before  I  close  ?  We  can  give 
most  satisfactory  testimony  about  God's 
work  in  Scotland  ;  but  as  I  come  from  Glas- 
gow, I  want  to  speak  of  it.  Here  is  one 
thing  about  it  as  to  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  If  you  want  a  man  to  believe,  it 
is  about  one  of  the  worst  ways  you  could 
take  to  talk  about  faith.  Speak  about  the 
object  of  faith.  So  we  never  talked  about 
union  ;  to  talk  about  union  is  not  the  way 
to  bring  it  about.  We  talked  about  Him 
who  unites  us  all.  We  found  ministers 
of  all  denominations  that  hold  the  Head, 
meeting  together  in  union,  and  from  that 
day  to  this  we  have  worked  in  perfect  har- 
mony, asking  no  questions.  We  found  this 
— and  I  had  better  mention  it  in  case  I  for- 
get— we  are  prepared  to  state,  over  and 
over  again,  that  at  least  7,000  souls  were 
gathered  in  last  year  in  Glasgow.  All  these 
are  under  the  superintendence  of  our  min- 
isters. You  in  London  have  this  disadvan- 
tage, that  you  are  not  likely  to  know,  and 
take  the  converts  under  your  care,  as  we 
can  do  in  a  smaller  place.  I  wish  to  say 
this  too  :  All  these  7,000  know  something 
about  the  shorter  Catechism,  so  that  we 
have  confidence  in  them,  that  it  is  not  feel- 
ing only. 

Some  brethren  in  Glasgow  were  not  at 
all  pleased  with  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey 
at  first  for  not  going  to  the  lowest  classes. 
/  think  it  tuould  have  been  a  great  fnistake  if 
they  had.  What  we  needed  was  that  those 
in  our  churches  who  had  but  the  name  to 
live — yet  had  the  name  and  were  in  most 
peril — should  be  reached  first ;  and  the 
blessing  came  to  them  first.  We  have 
found  that  there  was  not  one  minister  who 
took  an  interest  in  this  work  who  did  not 
gain  great  additions  to  his  congregation. 
There  have  been  added  to  my  own  congre- 
gation over  100  souls,  and  there  is  scarcely 
one  I  have  any  doubt  of. 


6o 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


When  God's  people  had  been  greatly 
stirred  up,  the  work  among  the  lower  class- 
es began.  And  it  is  going  on  in  a  way  that 
is  most  wonderful.  If  you  are  spending  a 
Sabbath  in  Glasgow  you  could  do  this:  you 
could  go  to  the  Green,  and  there  see  2,000 
outcasts  every  Sabbath  morning  get  their 
breakfast,  and  then  the  Word  preached  ;  and 
you  never  saw  a  more  attentive  audience. 
At  eleven  o'clock  you  would  find  in  the 
same  tent  at  least  1,000  people,  and  in  the 
afternoon  perhaps  1,200.  These  ragged 
children  are  a  most  interesting  congrega- 
tion. In  the  evening  the  tent  is  overflow- 
ing to  hear  the  preaching  of  the  Word. 
Taking  the  numbers  outside  and  in,  you 
never  have  less  than  3,000.  Then  there 
are  meetings  during  the  week,  and  all  over 
the  city  smaller  works  are  going  on.  The 
Lord  is  amazingly  blessing  us.  If  there  is 
anyone  who  has  stood  aloof,  I  do  not  won- 
der he  does  not  believe  in  the  work.  If  he 
has  only  come  once  or  twice,  he  might  as 
well  not  have  come  at  all.  But  go  aruong 
them,  and  you  will  discover  the  reality  of 
the  work.  You  know  Christ  said  about  be- 
lieving, "  If  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine." 

There  is  a  solemn  thought  that  is  always 
occurring  to  me  as  well  as  many  others — 
What  is  this  amazing  work  to  end  in  ?  In 
London  we  have  been  noticing  that  your 
newspapers  have  been  far  more  favorable 
than  ours  were  to  the  work.  Why  is  all 
this  ?  Is  it  not  as  though  God  has  given 
the  four  angels  charge  to  hold  back  the  four 
winds  for  a  little  till  He  has  sealed  His 
servants  in  the  forehead?  Then  comes  the 
terrific  storm  that  ushers  in  the  coming  of 
the  Lord. 


XL 

IMPRESSIONS   OF   THE   RECENT 
REVIVAL  IN  EDINBURGH. 

(A  Letter  to  a  Friend.) 

Last  year,  when  I  came  to  Edinburgh,  I 
was  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  the 
glowing  reports  I  had  read  of  the  "  work  " 
in  Edinburgh  were  true,  and  in  no  way  over- 
stated. This  year  these  favorable  opinions 
have  been  confirmed,  and  I  think  I  may 
best  convey  to  you  the  information  I  have 
collected  in  answering  the  following  queries, 
presuming,  of  course,  the  existence  of  what 
we  may  call  a  revival.  The  queries  I  shall 
attempt  to  answer  are  these  : 

Is  the  revival  movement  still  going  on  ? 


How  are  the  professed  converts  stand- 
ing? 

Is  there  revived  Christian  life  ?  and  if  so, 
how  is  it  manifesting  itself? 

First,  then,  "  Is  the  revival  movement 
still  going  on  ?"  My  answer  is.  Yes.  I 
have  every  reason  to  think  so,  because  the 
meetings  are  still  being  held.  These  meet- 
ings are  the  Mid-day  Prayer-meeting,  the 
Saturday  and  Sunday  Evangelistic,  Cottage, 
Hosi)ital,  and  Open-air  Services,  singing 
bands,  etc.  I  have  seen  and  attended  most 
of  these.  The  mid-day  meeting  is  both  well 
attended  and  joyous.  I  have  been  to 
several,  and  see  little  difference  from  those 
of  last  year,  excepting  in  attendance,  which 
is  a  little  smaller;  but,  on  Saturday,  not 
any  less.  Of  the  other  meetings  the  same 
may  be  said,  and  I  am  justified,  therefore, 
in  saying  that  the  revival  is  going  on. 

The  same  simple,  stirring  Gospel  address- 
es are  being  delivered.  I  attended  the 
Saturday  night's  Evangelistic  Service.  This 
service,  being  the  outgrowth  of  the  revival, 
may  be  taken  as  an  index  of  its  success, 
both  past  and  present. 

When  I  went  in  (some  few  minutes  after 
the  hour),  the  speaker,  an  intelligent  doctor 
of  medicine,  was  speaking  from  the  text 
"  Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness,  O  Lord." 
It  was  an  exceptionally  good  Gospel  address, 
and  delivered  in  the  quiet,  intelligent  way 
of  a  believing,  educated  Christian.  Its 
effect  was  quiet,  but  quite  marvelous  to  me, 
and  I  thanked  God  from  my  heart  for  the 
address. 

A  minister  then  applied  by  anecdote  and 
exhortation  what  had  been  said.  A  work- 
ing-man illustrated  it  by  his  own  conversion; 
and  a  mere  youth  further  found  an  illustra- 
tion in  his  case  ;  and  so  on. 

But  meetings  are  not  only  being  held,  but 
conversions  real  and  lasting  are  occurring. 
In  all  the  churches,  too,  I  find  the  fruits  of 
the  awakened  zeal  of  ministers,  and  num- 
bers are  being  reaped  in  the  steady  growth 
of  the  membership  of  these  churches. 

The  second  query  I  am  to  answer  is, 
"  How  are  the  professed  converts  stand- 
ing?" 

True  conversion  is  a  change  from  a  life 
of  ignorance  to  one  of  knowledge  ;  from 
indifference  to  trust  and  obedience  ;  from 
acts  of  sinfulness  to  holy  living.  It  may  be 
well  to  test  the  converts  by  this  text,  and 
ask,  "  Is  there  in  their  conduct  and  conver- 
sation such  evidence  of  these  things  as  we 
may  reasonably  expect  ? 

This  query  has  been  prosecuted  by  such 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WORK  IN  ENGLAND. 


6i 


experienced  examiners  as  Dr.  Horatius 
Bonar,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Wilson,  of  the  Barclay 
Church,  Professors  Blaikie  and  Charteris, 
and  the  report  of  these  gentlemen  is,  "  Yes, 
— unequivocally  Yes  !"  I  asked  a  person 
— most  likely  to  know — if  there  were  signs 
of  a  growth  in  grace  on  the  part  of  those 
converts  (because  I  attach  importance  to 
this  point),  and  he  told  me  this  was  re- 
markably apparent  in  the  case  of  most.  I 
was  satisfied,  therefore,  that  those  conver- 
sions were  not  the  result  of  mere  excite- 
ment, but  of  adequate  knowledge  of  the 
merits  and  requirements  of  the  Saviour. 

My  third  query  to  answer  is — "  Is  there 
revived  Christian  life,  and  how  is  it  mani- 
festing itself?" 

We  know  the  existence  of  a  thing  by  its 
manifestation.  If,  therefore,  we  see  mani- 
festations of  revived  Christian  hfe,  we  know 
there  is  such.  It  is  manifesting  itself  in 
more  thorough  consecration. 

In  listening  to  the  prayers  at  Monday's 
Mid-day  Prayer-meeting,  in  thinking  over 
the  tenor  of  the  chairman's  remarks,  in  fol- 
lowing the  drift  of  the  anecdotes  and  illus- 
trations, I  was  forcibly  struck  with  the  de- 
sire almost  everywhere  observable,  of  the 
anxiety  to  be  more  free  from  dominant  evil, 
and  more  entirely  used  for  God's  glory.  But 
it  is  not  only  desire  that  those  Christians 
have  ;  it  is  work.  Just  run  over  the  en- 
gagements for  the  week  ;  just  see  the  daily 
notices  in  the  Scotsman  newspaper ;  just 
listen  to  the  long  list  of  requests  for  prayer 
for  some  special  effort  to  rescue  the  perish- 
ing ;  and  you  will  know  whether  or  not  it 
is  merely  desire  or  work  that  those  Edin- 
burgh Christians  want.  And  they  are  not 
each  stifly  following  out  his  otvti  plan — 
working  only  as  he  or  she  thinks  best — but 


meeting  in  conference,  and  agreeing  upon 
the  adoption  of  any  or  every  suggestion  cal- 
culated to  accomplish  the  end  they  have  in 
view.  And  they  know  how  frail  they  are, 
and  also  where  they  can  get  the  strength 
they  need,  and  are  found  in  large  and  steady 
numbers  daily  at  the  throne  of  grace  in  the 
Mid-day  Prayer-meeting. 

I  leave  this  God-gifted  city  as  a  man  who 
is  leaving  a  genial  party  in  a  warm  and  cosy 
room  steps  into  the  cold,  and  sleet,  and 
blast  of  a  drear  November  night. 

But  I  am  reminded  by  a  friend,  who  is 
taking  part  in  Mr.  Moody's  meetings  in 
London,  that  the  same  God  who  is  working 
so  unmistakably  in  Edinburgh  and  London 
can  do  the  same  glorious  things  in  South 
Shields.  That  He  may  do  so  is  the  prayer 
of  your  absent  friend. 


XII. 

The  following  is  given  as  the  number  of 
meetings  and  aggregate  attendance  during 
the  four  months  that  Mr.  Moody  has  been 
in  London  : 

In  Camberwell,  sixty  meetings,  attended 
by  480,000  people  ;  in  Victoria,  forty-five 
meetings,  attended  by  400,000 ;  in  the 
Opera  House,  sixty  meetings,  attended  by 
330,000  ;  in  Bow,  sixty  meetings,  attended 
by  600,000  ;  and  in  Agricultural  Hall,  sixty 
meetings,  attended  by  720,000.  The  amount 
of  money  expended  for  buildings,  printing, 
stewards,  etc.,  is  $140,000.  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey  have  declined  to  receive  any 
compensation  from  the  committee.  It  is 
stated  that  a  prominent  business  man  has 
bought  the  Victoria  Theatre,  and  intends 
to  fit  it  up  for  religious  work. 


THE     END. 


SERMONS   AND   ADDRESSES 


BY     D.    L.    MOODY. 


I. 

GOD'S  HUMAN  INSTRUMENTS. 
I  Cor.  1 :  17  to  end  of  chapter. 

I  WANT  for  a  few  minutes  to  call  your 
attention  tt  a  truth  that  you  will  find  in 
these  verses  chat  I  have  read.  /  There  are 
a  great  many  Christians  in  London  that 
are  praying  for  God  to  revive  His  work.y 
I  have  received  letters  from  a  great  many, 
and  the  thing  that  I  have  to  fear  most  in 
coming  to  London  is  that  many  might  be 
leaning  upon  man  or  upon  the  arm  of  flesh, 
or  upon  the  great  meetings,  and  get  their 
eyes  off  from  the  Lord./  Now  if  there  is 
going  to  be  a  work  in  London,  God  must 
do  the  work./  It  is  not  any  new  Gospel 
that  London  wants ;  it  is  not  any  new 
power./  It  is  the  same  old  power,  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  it  is  the 
same  old  story — nothing  new.  /The  world 
is  running  here  and  there  after  something 
new,  and  they  come  and  hear  the  old,  old 
story,  and  they  say,  "  Well,  it  is  not  any- 
thing new  after  all."/  I  want  you  to  un- 
derstand, if  you  have  come  here  to-night 
expecting  to  hear  something  new,  you  will 
be  disappointed./ We. have  not  come  with 
any  new  Gospel,  but  are  just  going  to 
preach  the  same  old  truths  that  these  min- 
isters before  me  have  been  preaching. /And 
not  only  that,  but  we  are  come  in  Weak- 
ness./There  are  hundreds  of  men  in  Lon- 
don that  can  preach  a  good  deal  better 
than  we  can,  and  if  you  are  leaning  upon 
man  you  will  be  disappointed  ;  but  if  we 
lean  upon  God,  and  all  our  expectations 
are  from  Him,  we  will  not  be  disappointed^ 
*'  Cursed  is  the  man  that  maketh  the  arm 
of  flesh  his  trust.'y  What  we  want  is  to 
cease  from  man,  and  get  done  with  men, 
and  look  right  straight  away  from  man  up 
to  God/  The  world  is  seeking  after  wis- 
dom, but  they  don't  know  God  by  wisdom-/ 
It  is  not  the  wisdom  of  the  world./  God's 
thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  and  God's 
(62) 


ways  are  not  our  ways./  Let  us  keep  that 
constantly  in  mind/  If  God  is  going  to 
work  in  London,  He  is  going  to  work  in 
His  own  way,  and  we  must  not  mark  out 
channels  for  the  Holy  Ghost  to  work  in 
when  He  comes./  He  will  work  in  His 
own  way  when  He  comes ;  and  He  will 
use  the  instruments  that  He  pleases/  God 
is  a  sovereiguy^  He  may  take  up  this  man ; 
He  may  take  up  that  man  ;  He  may  take 
up  that  boy,  and  use  him/God  will  choose 
His  instruments,  and  God  will  work  in  His 
own  way,  and  what  we  want  is  to  get  into 
our  places  as  Gideon's  army  did,  and  let 
God  work./  Yon  is  a  mountain,  and  God 
wants  to  thrash  that  mountain,  and  there 
lies  a  great  bar  of  iron — ten  thousand  men 
could  not  lift  it — and  right  by  its  side  a 
little  weak  worm./ The  Almighty  passes 
by  that  bar  of  iron,  and  takes  up  the  little 
worm  to  thrash  the  mountain.  That  is 
what  God  has  been  trying  to  teach  us  six 
thousand  years.  He  uses  base  things,  con- 
temptible things  in  the  sight  of  the  world. 
In  this  chapter  Paul  sums  up  the  five 
things  that  God  does  use — foolish  things, 
weak  things,  base  things,  despised  things, 
and  the  thmgs  which  are  not.  What  for.? 
"  That  no  flesh  should  glory  in  His  sight" 

THE  CALL  OF  NOAH  AND  OF   MOSES. 

When  God  was  going  to  destroy  the 
world,  and  wanted  an  ark  built.  He  did  not 
tell  a  nation  to  do  it ;  He  did  not  tell  a 
great  city  to  go  and  build  it ;  He  did  not 
call  forth  hundreds  of  men,  but  one  man, 
who  was  contemptible  in  the  sight  of  the 
world.  The. world  laughed  at  Noah  and  at 
his  ark.  They  mocked  him  and  made  light 
of  him.  But  that  is  God's  way,  not  man's 
way.  What  is  highly  esteemed  of  man  is 
abomination  to  God,  and  what  is  highly 
esteemed  of  God  is  abomination  to  man. 
God's  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  and 
God's  ways  are  not  our  ways.  When  God 
wanted  to  bring  three  millions  of  people 
out  of  Egypt,  out  of  bondage,  how  did  He 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


(>Z 


do  it  ?  (An  interruption  here  took  place, 
in  consequence  of  people  attempting  to 
enter  at  one  of  the  side  doors,  and  Mr. 
Moody  called  upon  the  people  to  rise  and 
sing  a  hymn  until  the  confusion  ended). 
He  then  went  on  to  say :  We  were  talking 
about  the  weak  things  that  God  uses,  and 
I  was  just  going  to  say  when  God  wanted 
to  bring  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt 
His  way  of  delivering  them  was  different 
from  ours.  We  would  have  sent  down 
there  a  mighty  army.  We  would  have 
called  for  an  army  with  chariots  and  with 
weapons,  or,  if  we  were  going  to  send  a 
man  down  to  plead  with  Pharoah,  we 
should  not  have  sent  down  that  man  who 
had  been  forty  years  on  the  backside  of  the 
desert ;  a  man  who  really  was  not  known. 
He  had  been  so  long  out  of  Egypt  that  his 
name  had  been  forgotten  and  his  influence 
at  the  court  was  gone,  if  he  ever  had  any ; 
and  he  says  himself  that  he  was  slow  of 
speech,  not  an  eloquent  man.  I  suppose 
he  was  v/hat  we  call  a  stuttering  man — the 
last  man  we  would  have  thought  of  send- 
ing down  there.  We  would  have  picked 
up  some  great  orator,  some  eloquent  man, 
to  lay  it  ail  before  the  king;  but  the  Lord's 
ways  are  not  our  ways. 

god's  blank  cheque. 

And  when  Moses  said,  "  If  they  ask  me 
who  sent  me,  what  shall  I  tell  them .''" 
God  said,  "  Say  I  Am  sent  me ;"  and,  as 
some  one  has  said,  that  was  a  blank  cheque, 
and  God  told  him  to  fill  it  out;  and  when 
they  were  in  the  desert  and  wanted  water 
He  filled  out  the  cheque  and  drew  water 
from  the  rock.  When  he  wanted  bread  He 
filled  out  the  cheque,  and  God  gave  him 
bread  from  heaven.  Yes  ;  /  Am  sent  him, 
and  God  delivered  three  millions  of  bond- 
men. Pharoah  looked  down  upon  Him  with 
scorn  and  contempt.  "  Who  is  God,  that  I 
should  obey  Him  .?"  But  he  soon  found 
out  what  the  God  of  Moses  was,  and  what 
we  want  is  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  they  will  find  out  who  our  God 
is.  It  is  of  very  little  account  who  we'  are 
or  what  we  are.  All  we  want  is,  to  be  ves- 
sels fitted  for  the  Master's  use,  and  just 
willing  to  be  worked  in  God's  way,  and  to 
be  fools  for  Christ's  sake.  That  is  what  we 
want.  There  is  not  a  man  in  the  world  of 
God  whose  name  shines  out  upon  the  page 
of  Divine  history  who  was  eminent  in 
God's  service,  but  who  was  considered  the 
greatest  fool  in  his  day.  I  have  not  any 
doubt  but  that  Enoch  was  considered  the 


greatest  fool  in  his  day  in  the  sight  of  the 
world.  They  looked  upon  him  with  scorn 
and  contempt,  but  *'  he  walked  with  God," 
and  God  thought  so  much  of  him  that  He 
said,  "  Come  up  higher ;"  and  he  is  up 
there  walking  with  God  now.  God  liked 
his  company.  Noah  w3s  the  laughing- 
stock of  his  dny.  Men  made  sport  of  him. 
He  was  the  greatest  fool,  as  the  world 
would  call  it.  He  was  willing  to  be  a  fool 
for  God's  sake,  and  God  used  him  and 
blessed  him ;  and  if  you  and  I  are  to  be 
used  by  God  we  must  be  willing  to  be  fools 
in  the  sight  of  the  world. 

Look  at  Joshua  going  round  the  walls  of 
Jericho — a  most  absurd  sight  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.  How  the  London  press 
would  come  down  upon  a  scene  like  that — 
the  idea  of  seven  priests  going  round  those 
walls  blowing  rams'  horns.  Fancy  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  some  of 
your  great  potentates  going  right  round 
London^blowing  rams'  horns.  Everybody 
would  be  disgusted,  and  say  they  must 
have  gold  trumpets  at  least,  and  not  rams' 
horns.  But  that  is  not  God's  way.  They 
went  round  those  walls  and  compassed 
that  city  by  faith,  and  by  the  grace  of  God 
they  took  it. 

THE  WORK  OF  SAMSON. 

It  was  very  foolish  in  the  sight  of  the 
world,  but  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways, 
and  God's  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts, 
and  what  the  Christians  of  London  must 
learn — and  we  must  learn  it  very  quick  if 
God  is  going  to  commence  the  work  here 
— is  that  God  is  going  to  work  in  His  own 
way  ;  and  it  will  be  a  very  foolish  way  in 
the  sight  of  the  world.  Look  at  that  man 
Samson.  Why,  when  the  spirit  was  on 
him,  how  he  did  work.  With  the  jawbone 
of  an  ass  he  slew  a  thousand  men.  We 
are  not  willing  to  work  with  the  jawbone 
of  an  ass  :  we  want  some  polished  weapons ; 
we  want  some  weapons  that  the  world 
won't  have  anything  to  say  against ;  but 
Samson  came  down  from  the  rock — he  had 
been  on  the  rock  —  and  he  took  up  the 
jawbone  of  an  ass  that  he  came  across, 
and  he  went  out  and  slew  them  right  and 
left.  And  what  we  want  is  for  every  one 
of  us  to  grab  up  the  first  jawbone  of  an  ass 
that  we  come  across,  and  not  to  wait  to  do 
some  great  thing,  but  to  do  anything  that 
the  Lord  will  permit  us  to  do.  Let  the 
world  mock  and  laugh  on ;  when  we  are 
willing  to  be  fools  for  Christ's  sake,  then 
God   can   use   us.     How   absurd   Gideon 


64 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


must  have  looked  in  his  day,  with  his  three 
hundred  men.  There  were  thirty  thou- 
sand— too  many ;  God  could  not  use  them. 
There  were  ten  thousand — too  many ;  God 
could  not  use  them ;  and  He  got  them 
down  to  three  hundred,  and  they  had 
empty  pitchers*  What  queer  weapons, 
were  they  not  ?  It  was  God's  way,  how- 
ever, and  every  man  stood  in  his  place,  and 
God  stood  beside  them,  and  the  result  was 
that  they  routed  the  whole  of  the  army. 
To  be  sure  London  is  a  great  city,  but  we 
are  enough  here  to  rout  London,  if  God  is 
on  our  side.  Any  man  with  God  on  his 
side,  though  a  fool,  must  succeed.  God 
sent  Moses,  and  he  did  not  fail.  God  sent 
Elijah,  and  he  did  not  fail.  Look  how  ab- 
surd it  was.  Elijah  out  there,  fed  by 
ravens — contemptible,  unclean  birds  feed- 
ing Elijah  ;  and  then  when  God  sent  him 
somewhere  else  it  was  not  to  a  palace,  to  a 
table  laden  with  good  things,  but  to  a 
widow  just  ready  to  die,  who  hac^scarcely 
enough  for  a  meal  for  herself  and  her  boy 
beside.  But  that  is  God's  way,  though 
very  absurd  in  the  sight  of  the  world.  So 
it  is  all  through  Scripture,  from  beginning 
to  end,  and  God  is  unchangeable.  It  is 
said  we  are  living  in  an  enlightened  age ; 
we  may  be,  but  to  God  it  is  the  same,  and 
He  takes  the  contemptible  things  and  the 
despised  things  of  the  world  and  uses 
them, 

WHO  IS  JOHN  BUNYAN  .? 

When  He  wanted  a  book  written  to  do 
some  great  good  to  the  world,  He  did  not 
call  forth  a  philosopher,  but  some  Bedford 
tinker  (the  devil  got  his  match  when  he 
got  hold  of  John  Bunyan),  and  he  took 
up  his  pen  and  wrote  a  book  for  the 
blessing  of  nations.  The  world  looked 
down  upon  him  with  scorn.  "  Who  is 
John  Bunyan.''"  How  they  turned  up 
their  lips  with  scorn  and  contempt  in  his 
day;  but  he  lives  to-day.  Many  a  man 
that  stood  high  in  society  in  Bunyan's 
days  is  forgotten  now.  We  do  not  know 
who  they  were;  but  John  Bunyan  now 
lives,  and  will  live  so  long  as  the  world 
lasts.  That  despised  tinker  !  I  hope 
there  are  some  Bedford  tinkers  here  to- 
night that  the  Lord  will  bless,  and  send 
out  to  bless  the  world.  God  can  take  up 
the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  and  there 
is  not  a  man  here  whom  God  cannot  use 
if  he  is  willing  to  be  used.  Some  one  has 
said  there  was  not  a  man  in  all  Saul's 
army  but  knew  that  God  could  use  him  to 


meet  Goliath  ;  but  there  was  only  one  that 
believed  that  God  would  use  him,  and 
God  used  that  one.  And  what  we  want 
is  not  to  believe  that  God  can  use  us, 
but  that  God  will  use  us.  Out  went  that 
young  stripling,  and  he  met  the  giant. 
Forty  days  he  had  come  out  and  point- 
ed his  finger  at  and  defied  all  Israel. 
Forty  days  was  Saul  trembling  from  head 
to  foot,  and  he  was  a  head  and  shoulders 
taller  than  any  one  else  in  his  army ;  but 
he  was  not  the  man  God  had  chosen  to 
meet  the  giant.  It  was  the  little  strip- 
ling, the  youngest  son  of  Jesse,  the  small- 
est and  the  weakest  of  the  sons  of  Jesse ; 
and  God  used  him,  and  went  with  him, 
and  God  delivered  the  giant  into  his  hands. 

GREAT    PREACHERS   IN    LONDON. 

And  God  will  use  the  weak  ones  here  in 
London  if  they  will  only  let  Him.  You 
have  got  great  preachers  here — I  do  not 
believe  London  ever  knew  a  day  when  it 
had  so  many  great  and  good  preachers  as 
at  the  present  time.  It  is  not  that ;  it  is 
not  human  power  that  London  wants ;  it 
is  Divine  power;  it  is  not  the  eloquence 
of  man  ;  it  is  the  eloquence  of  heaven,  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  breaking  men's 
hearts.  That  is  what  London  wants. 
And  the  moment  that  you  and  I  get  ready 
to  receive  the  baptism  that  comes  from  on 
high — that  moment  the  power  will  come. 
"  Why  !  "  says  Jonathan,  "  there  is  no  re- 
straint in  the  Lord ;  He  can  save  by  few 
as  well  as  by  many."  Well,  we  are  few, 
and  what  we  want  is  just  to  let  God  work, 
I  think  John  Wesley  said,  if  he  had  one 
hundred  men  that  loved  no  one  but  God, 
and  feared  nothing  but  sin,  he  would  set 
up  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  and 
shake  the  gates  of  hell  in  twelve  months. 
And  I  believe  he  would  have  done  it 
One  hundred  such  men  never  lived  at  one 
time.  Talk  about  Alexander  making  the 
world  tremble  with  his  army — talk  about 
Napoleon  making  the  world  tremble  with 
his  army — why !  the  little  tentmaker  of 
Tarsus  made  the  world  tremble  without 
any  army  at  all.  Saul  of  Tarsus  !  I  would 
give  more  for  such  a  man  in  London  than 
for  ten  thousand  of  the  men  who  are 
mixed  up  with  the  world.  What  we  want 
is  to  be  out-and-out  on  the  Lord's  side, 
brain  and  heart  both  on  fire  for  the  Lord. 
It  is  said  of  David's  mighty  men  that  they 
were  right  and  left-handed.  They  were 
wholly  consecrated  ;  they  could  use  their 
left   or   their   right    hands   for   the   king. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


65 


That  is  what  we  want  in  London.  Men 
who  are  right-handed  and  left-handed  for 
the  King  of  Glory.  Men  who  can  use 
their  eyes,  and  tongues,  and  ears,  and 
everything  for  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then 
London  will  be  moved,  and  it  will  take 
very  little,  thank  God,  to  move  this  city 
from  end  to  end.  This  is  a  great  city,  but 
we  have  a  great  God  with  great  power. 

NO    HEART    FOR    THE    WORK, 

But  this  is  not  all.  God  uses  human 
instruments.  Sometimes  it  is  a  wonder  to 
me  that  He  does  not  take  the  work  out  of 
our  hands  and  put  it  into  the  hands  of 
angels,  or  some  one  able  to  do  it.  There 
are  but  few  now  that  say,  "  Here  am  L 
Lord  ;  send  me."  The  cry  now  is,  "Send 
some  one  else."  "  Send  the  minister," 
says  the  elder;  "don't  send  me."  Or  if  he 
is  not  an  elder,  he  says,  "  Don't  send  me; 
send  the  church  officers,  the  church-war- 
dens, but  not  me.  I  have  not  got  the 
ability,  the  gifts,  or  the  talents."  Ah  ! 
honestly  say  you  have  not  got  the  heart, 
for  if  the  heart  is  loyal,  God  can  use  you. 
It  is  really  all  a  matter  of  heart.  It  does 
not  take  God  a  great  while  to  qualify  a 
man  for  his  work  if  he  has  the  heart  for  it. 
He  may  not  have  many  talents,  but  if  he 
makes  good  use  of  what  he  has,  God  will 
soon  increase  his  talents.  Look  at  Elisha ! 
There  is  another  man.  We  would  not 
have  thought  of  Elisha  to  take  the  place 
of  the  wonderful  prophet.  We  would  have 
gone  to  Bethel,  or  Jericho,  to  the  school 
of  the  prophets,  and  picked  out  a  theologi- 
cal professor,  or  some  great  man.  But 
Elijah  finds  a  man  in  the  fields  behind 
twelve  yoke  of  oxen,  and  Elisha  slew  his 
oxen,  and  consecrated  everything  to  God, 
and  started  off  with  Elijah.  And  Elijah 
says  one  day,  "  What  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 
"  Well,"  says  Elisha,  "  give  me  a  double 
portion  of  your  spirit !  "  "  Well,"  said 
Elijah,  "  that  is  a  great  thing  that  you  have 
asked ;  but  if  you  see  me  when  I  am  taken 
up  you  shall  have  it."  Then  they  started 
from  Gilgal,  and  Elijah  says,  "  You  stay 
here,  and  I  will  go  down  to  Bethel  and  see 
how  the  prophets  are."  But  Elisha  says, 
"  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul 
liveth,  you  shall  not  go  without  me."  And 
I  call  see  the  men  arm-in-arm  going  to 
Bethel.  And  when  they  got  there, 
"  Now,"  says  Elijah  to  Elisha,  "  you  stay 
here  and  I  will  go  to  Jericho  to  see  how 
the  prophets  are  going  on  there."  He  was 
going  to  visit  the  theological  seminaries. 


"  Well,"  says  Elisha,  "  as  the  Lord  liveth, 
and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  you  shall  not  go 
without  me.  And  arm-in-arm  they  went  to 
Jericho  together.  And  when  they  got 
there,  says  Elijah,  "  You  stay  here  and  en- 
courage these  prophets  and  I  will  go  over 
Jordan  " — Jordan  means  death  and  judg- 
ment. "  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy 
soul  liveth,  you  shall  not  go  without  me," 
says  Elisha,  and  arm-in-arm  they  went  to 
Jordan  together.  And  Elijah  took  up  his 
mantle  and  struck  the  waters,  and  God 
held  back  the  waters  in  the  palm  of  His 
hand.  And  they  walked  over  dry  shod. 
But  it  had  been  revealed  to  those  prophets 
that  Elijah  was  going  to  be  taken  away,  so 
fifty  of  them  went  out  to  watch.  By-and- 
by  there  came  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  Elijah ' 
stepped  in  and  swept  away  home.  And  as 
he  went  up  his  mantle  fell,  and  Elisha  left 
his  own  mantle  and  took  Elijah's  mantle. 
Then  he  went  back  to  Jordan,  and  he  took 
Elijah's  mantle  and  struck  the  waters,  and 
came  through  dry  shod.  And  when  the 
fifty  prophets  saw  him,  they  cried,  "  The 
spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest  on  Elisha."  So 
it  was.  And  God  qualified  him  to  take 
Elijah's  place. 

THE    SPIRIT    OF    ELIJAH    WANTED. 

What  we  want  is  the  spirit  of  Elijah, 
and  our  God  is  the  same  as  his  God.  It 
was  in  the  power  of  prayer  that  he  stood 
before  Ahab,  and  what  we  want  is  to  get 
hold  of  God  in  prayer,  and  to  have  power 
from  heaven — not  human  power,  but  power 
from  on  high,  and  God  is  ready  and  will- 
ing to  give  us  that  power.  Yes,  it  is  the 
weak  things,  it  is  the  despised  things 
that  God  uses.  Those  unlearned  men 
from  Galilee,  Christ  called  them  around 
Him.  The  last  men  that  we  should  have 
thought  of.  He  called  those  fishermen  out 
of  Galilee,  and  that  little  handful  of  men 
shook  the  world.  It  was  these  men  that 
went  around  the  world  preaching  the 
glorious  Gospel  and  the  glad  tidings.  Why, 
before  He  could  use  Saul  He  had  to  change 
his  name,  and  call  him  Paul — Little  ! — lit- 
tle !  He  had  to  show  him  that  he  was 
weak  before  He  could  use  him.  And  Paul 
says,  "  When  I  am  weak  then  am  I  strong." 
It  was  not  enticing  words,  it  was  not  elo- 
quence that  Paul  had.  Why,  he  said  his 
speech  was  contemptible  !  Yes,  contempti- 
ble !  He  did  not  profess  to  be  an  orator, 
but  he  preached  Christ,  the  power  of  God 
and  the  wisdom  of  God,  Christ  and  Him 
crucified.     What  London  wants  the  whole 


66 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


world  wants,  and  that  is  Christ  and  Him 
crucified.  And  the  world  will 'perish  for 
want  of  Christ.  Let  every  man  and  woman 
that  loves  the  Lord  Jesus  begin  to  publish 
the  tidings  of  salvation.  Talk  to  your 
neighbors  and  your  friends.  Run  and 
speak  to  that  young  man  !  Talk  to  him 
of  heaven  and  of  the  love  of  Christ !  Tell 
him  that  you  want  to  see  him  saved.  And 
let  the  Christians  of  London  in  this  hall 
to-night  rise  and  take  the  city.  Our  God 
is  able.  Shout,  for  the  King  is  in  our 
midst !  Let  us  compass  the  walls  of 
Jericho,  and  they  will  soon  come  tumbling 
down.  Bear  in  mind  this,  that  God  is  far 
more  willing  to  bless  us  than  we  are  to  have 
Him.  Let  us  keep  close  to  Christ.  That 
is  what  London  wants.  They  don't  like  to 
have  Christ  preached  faithfully  ;  but  it  is 
just  what  men  don't  like  to  have  that  we 
must  give  them.  I  learnt  that  long  ago. 
The  very  medicine  we  don't  like  is  the 
medicine  that  we  ought  to  have,  and  the 
very  truths  that  men  object  to  and  that 
make  them  angry,  are  the  very  truths  that 
bring  them  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  What 
we  want  is  to  preach  Christ  in  season  and 
out  of  season, — 

"Tell  the  old,  old  story, 

Of  unseen  things  above. 
Of  Jesus  and  His  glory, 
Of  Jesus  and  His  love." 

Why,  the  stone  that  the  builders  have 
rejected  has  become  the  chief  corner-stone. 
The  very  stone  that  they  would  not  have 
was  the  very  stone  that  God  chose,  and 
upon  this  stone  He  is  building  His  Church 
now — upon  the  rock  of  ages.  It  is  Christ, 
my  friends,  Christ  that  they  want,  and 
then  they  will  get  sure  food  for  eternity. 

god's  lion  a  lamb. 

The  lion  of  hell  was  overcome  by  a  Lion. 
The  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  is  what .?  A 
Lamb.  God's  lion  is  a  Lamb.  There  was 
weeping  once  in  heaven.  John  said  he 
wept  much  when  he  got  there.  There  was 
a  book  handed  to  him,  and  there  was  not 
any  one  worthy  to  open  the  book.  There 
was  Abel,  he  was  not  worthy ;  there  was 
Enoch,  who  walked  with  God,  but  he  was 
not  worthy ;  there  was  Noah,  but  he  was  not 
worthy ;  there  was  Abraham,  the  friend  of 
God,  but  he  was  not  worthy ;  there  was 
Moses,  who  went  up  into  the  mountain  and 
talked  with  God,  and  took  the  law  from 
God's  hands,  but  he  was  not  worthy.  There 
they  were  gathered  fro  n  all  climes  and  all 


ages,  but  not  one  of  them  was  worthy ;  and 
John  looked  down  upon  the  earth,  and 
there  was  not  one  worthy,  and  he  wept 
because  there  was  no  one  worthy  to  open 
the  book.  At  last  one  touched  him,  and 
said,  "  Weep  not,  for  there  is  one  worthy ; 
the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  He  hath 
prevailed,  and  He  is  worthy."  And  he 
turned  round  to  look  at  the  Lion  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  and  behold,  it  was  a  slain 
Lamb.  God's  Lion  is  a  lamb  slain  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  what  we 
want  is  to  go  out  and  preach  Christ.  It 
is  the  weakness  of  God  which  overcomes 
the  strength  of  rnan.  It  is  the  weakness 
of  God  that  we  want.  The  foolishness  of 
God  is  worth  more  than  the  wisdom  of  the 
world. 

UNION   ESSENTIAL  TO  SUCCESS. 

Then  there  is  another  thing.  If  we 
are  going  to  have  success,  let  us  have  union. 
Now  there  are  three  classes,  I  believe,  that 
ought  to  be  in  sympathy  with  this  move- 
ment. The  first  class  is  ministers.  Every 
minister  that  wants  to  crown  Christ  King, 
that  wants  to  see  souls  saved,  ought  to  be 
interested  in  this  work.  Why  .?  Because 
we  come  here  to  help  you ;  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  help,  to  build  up,  to  strengthen  every 
minister's  hands,  to  help  him  to  do  his 
work.  Then  we  ought  to  have  sympathy 
from  every  Sabbath- school  superintendent. 
We  ought  to  have  the  sympathy  of  every 
teacher,  of  every  worker,  of  every  mission- 
ary, of  every  colporteur  in  London,  and  if 
we  cannot  have  you  here  night  after  night 
let  us  have  your  prayers  and  your  sympa- 
thy. Do  not  be  criticising  and  finding 
fault ;  but  be  much  in  your  closet  with 
God,  and  God  will  ansv/er  prayer,  and 
there  won't  be  a  Sabbath-school,  and  there 
won't  be  a  mission  district,  and  there  won't 
be  a  church  in  all  London,  but  will  be 
blessed  if  we  are  just  working  together 
and  praying  for  a  great  blessing. 

•    APPEAL  TO  PARENTS. 

Then  there  is  another  class, — fathers 
and  mothers.  You  that  have  children  in 
this  city  of  London  ought  to  have  sympathy 
with  a  movement  of  this  kind.  We  ought 
to  have  your  prayers,  we  ought  to  have 
your  council,  we  ought  to  have  your  heart- 
felt sympathy.  We  have  come  here  just 
to  try  in  the  name  of  our  Master  to 
win  your  children  to  God  and  to  heaven,  to 
win  them  to  a  pure  life,  to  save  them  from 
the    haunts    of    vice,    from    going    down 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


67 


to  a  drunkard's  grave.  When  I  was  in 
Liverpool  the  other  day,  a  mother  came  to 
me  and  brought  a  photograph  of  a  beauti- 
ful boy,  seventeen  years  old.  He  is  nine- 
teen now.  She  said,  ''  That  boy  has  been 
gone  two  years,  and  I  do  not  know  where 
he  is.  He  had  trouble,  and  he  fled  from 
home,  and  my  heart  is  just  breaking.  I 
do  not  know  h\\\.  that  he  is  in  London,  and 
I  give  you  his  photograph,  and  if  you  see 
him  in  the  audience  there,  I  want  you  just 
to  try  and  win  him  to  the  Lord,  that  he 
may  come  back  to  cheer  my  heart,"  and 
the  great  tears  rolled  down  that  mother's 
cheek.  There  is  many  a  boy  in  London 
like  that.  We  have  come  here  after  them, 
just  in  hopes  that  God  will  win  them 
to  Christ,  and  that  they  will  go  back  to  be 
a  blessing  to  their  parents  and  to  the 
Church  of  God.  If  that  young  man  is 
here  to-night,  I  bring  you  good  news. 
Your  mother  still  loves  you,  and  wants  you 
to  return.  Her  heart  is  just  breaking  for 
you.  And  let  me  say  to  every  man  and 
woman  here  to-night  that  is  out  of  Christ, 
God  wants  you  ;  Jesus  wants  you.  There 
is  room  in  heaven  for  you ;  and  the  Lord 
has  sent  us  just  to  invite  you  to  the 
Gospel  feast. 

Let  me  say,  before  I  close,  that  we  want 
unity  among  God's  people.  Where  there 
is  union  I  do  not  believe  any  power, 
earthly  or  infernal,  can  stand  before  the 
work.  When  the  Church,  the  pulpit,  and 
the  pew  get  united,  and  God's  people  are 
all  of  one  mind,  Christianity  is  like  a  red- 
hot  ball  rolling  over  the  earth,  and  all  the 
hosts  of  death  and  hell  cannot*  stand  be- 
fore it.  I  believe  that  men  will  then  come 
flocking  into  the  kingdom  by  hundreds 
and  thousands.  "  By  this,"  says  Christ, 
"  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disci- 
ples, if  ye  love  one  another."  If  we  only 
love  one  another,  and  pray  for  one  another, 
there  v/ill  be  success.  God  will  not  disap- 
point us.  When  General  Grant  was  mov- 
ing on  to  Richmond,  and  his  army  had 
been  repulsed  in  the  Wilderness,  he  called 
together  his  co-commanders  and  held  a 
council,  and  asked  them  what  they  thought 
he  had  better  do.  His  leading  generals 
and  all  thought  he  had  better  retreat.  He 
heard  them  through,  and  then  broke  up 
the  council  of  war,  and  sent  them  back  to 
their  headquarters;  but  before  morning 
an  orderly  came  round  with  a  dispatch 
from  the  General  directing  an  advance  in 
solid  column  on  the  enemy  at  daylight. 
That  was  what  took  Richmond,  and  broke 


down  the  rebellion  in  our  country.  Chris- 
tians of  London,  let  us  advance  in  solid 
column  against  the  enemy;  let  us  lift  high 
the  standard,  and  in  the  name  of  our  God 
let  us  lift  up  our  voice,  and  let  us  work 
together,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  keep 
our  eye  single  to  the  honor  and  glory  of 
Christ.  Let  us  pray  that  we  may  get  self 
out  of  the  way,  and  that  Christ  may  be  all 
and  in  all,  and  then  we  will  have  great 
success.  Let  our  watchword  be,  "  Here 
am  I ;  send  me." 


IL 

CHRIST  SEEKING  THE  LOST. 

"  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost." — Luke  xix,  10. 

To  me  this  is  one  of  the  sweetest  verses 
in  the  whole  Word  of  God.  In  that  little 
short  sentence  we  are  told  what  the  Son  of 
God  came  into  the  world  for,  we  are  told 
what  His  mission  to  this  dark  world  was. 
He  came  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but 
that  the  world  through  Him  might  be 
saved.  He  did  not  come  to  make  men 
wretched,  He  did  not  come  to  make  us 
miserable  ;  but  He  came  to  save  that  which 
was  lost.  Now,  when  a  prince,  and  es- 
pecially a  crown  prince,  comes  to  London, 
what  a  royal  reception  you  give  him  ;  and 
the  question  is  raised,  what  is  he  come 
for  1  Now,  here  is  the  Prince  of  Heaven 
coming  down  into  this  dark  world.  What 
is  He  come  for  J  Why,  we  are  told  that 
He  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost.  And  every  man  or  woman  in 
this  audience  is  either  lost  or  found.  You 
are  either  saved  or  lost.  And  bear  in  mind 
that  Christ  takes  the  place  of  the  seeker. 
No  sooner  did  the  news  reach  heaven  that 
Adam  had  fallen  in  Eden  than  God  came 
down  to  him.  Adam  ought  to  have  gone 
up  and  down  the  garden  of  Eden  crying 
out,  "  My  God,  where  art  Thou  }  I  have 
sinned,  I  have  sinned  and  fallen."  Instead 
of  that  he  went  away  and  hid  himself,  and 
God  came  down,  and  His  voice  was  heard 
in  the  garden  of  Eden,  "  Adam,  where  art 
thou }"  It  was  the  voice  of  Christ,  the 
voice  of  love.  But  Adam  had  gone  away 
frightened,  and  God  took  the  place  of  the 
Seeker,  and  from  the  time  of  Adam's  fall 
until  the  present,  God  has  always  taken  the 
place  of  the  Seeker.  No  man  or  woman  in 
this  audience  has  been  saved  but  that  He 
sought  them  first.  We  do  not  seek  after 
Him  until  He  first  seeks  after  us.     We  do 


68 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


not  go  to  Him  by  nature.  Our  nature  is 
to  go  away  from  Him,  as  with  Adam  when 
he  hid  away  from  a  loving  God.  Read 
what  we  have  in  the  15  th  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke.  It  is  not  the  lost 
sheep  from  the  fold  hunting  up  the  Shep- 
herd, but  it  is  the  Shepherd  seeking  after 
the  lost  sheep.  Whoever  heard  of  a  sheep 
•which  had  strayed  from  the  fold  hunting  after 
the  shepherd  1  And  so  Isaiah  has  told  us, 
"  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray,  we 
have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way," 
and  the  Great  Shepherd  has  come  down 
after  us. 

THE  LOST  PIECE  OF  MONEY. 

And  then,  in  the  portion  of  Scripture  I 
have  read  to  you,  there  is  that  woman  who 
had  lost  the  piece  of  money.  It  was  not 
that  piece  of  money  seeking  its  way  back 
into  the  woman's  pocket ;  but  it  was  the 
■woman  lighting  a  candle  and  taking  a 
broom,  and  sweeping  diligently  until  she 
found  it.  I  can  just  imagine  that  some 
one  had  paid  that  woman  a  bill  that  day, 
and  had  given  her  ten  pieces  of  silver. 
When  she  retired  at  night,  she  took  the 
money  out  of  her  pocket  to  count  it,  and 
seeing  the  bulk  looked  small,  she  said  to 
herself,  "  Well,  this  don't  look  like  ten 
pieces  ;  I  must  have  lost  one  piece  ;  where 
have  I  lost  it  ?"  She  begins  to  think  where 
she  has  been  that  day.  "  I  have  not  been 
out  of  the  house  ;  it  must  be  somewhere  in 
the  house,"  she  says.  Then  she  goes  and 
lights  a  candle,  and  gets  a  broom  and 
sweeps  the  floor,  and  raises  a  great  dust. 
And  so  it  is  when  the  Holy  Spirit  begins 
to  seek  after  a  soul ;  there  is  some  great 
commotion.  So  she  begins  to  search  and 
grope  around  ;  she  moves  the  chairs,  the 
sofa,  the  table,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  furni- 
ture, and  looks  in  every  corner  until  she 
finds  the  piece.  Who  was  it  that  rejoiced 
—  the  piece  of  silver  or  the  woman .?  the 
sheep  that  was  lost  or  the  shepherd  that 
found  it.?  It  was  the  v/oman  that  rejoiced 
over  the  lost  piece ;  it  was  the  shepherd 
that  rejoiced  over  the  lost  sheep  he  had 
found.  And  so  we  find  it  is  here.  Christ 
takes  the  place  of  the  seeker.  "  For  the 
Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lot."  What  Adam  lost  in 
Eden,  I  find  in  the  second  Adam.  When 
God  put  Adam  in  Eden,  He  bound  him 
strong  to  the  throne  of  God  with  a  golden 
chain.  When  Satan  walked  in,  he  broke 
the  chain  ;  but  the  second  Adam  came  to 
seek   and   to   save  that    which    was  lost. 


What  the  first  Adam  lost  for  me  I  get  in 
the  second  Adam.  He  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  that  which  was  lost. 

THE  STORY  OF  BARTIMEUS. 

Now  let  us  go  back  a  little  before  the 
text.  I  am  very  often  blessed  in  my  own 
soul  by  taking  a  text  all  round.  In  the  i8th 
chapter  of  the  gospel  of  St.  Luke,  you  will 
find  Christ  is  going  into  Jericho;  and  as 
He  drew  near  the  gates  of  Jericho  there 
was  a  poor  blind  man  who  sat  by  the  way- 
side, begging  people  to  give  him  a  farthing, 
and  crying  out,  "  Have  mercy  on  a  blind 
man  !"  This  poor  beggar  met  a  man,  who 
said  to  him,  "  Bartimeus,  I  have  good  news 
to  tell  you."  "  What  is  it  V  said  the  blind 
beggar.  "  There  is  a  man  of  Israel  who 
can  give  you  sight."  "  Oh,  no,"  said  the 
blind  beggar,  "  there  is  no  chance  of  my 
ever  receiving  my  sight.  I  never  shall  see. 
In  fact,  I  never  saw  the  mother  who  gave 
me  birth  ;  I  never  saw  the  wife  of  my 
bosom  ;  I  never  saw  my  own  offspring.  I 
never  saw  in  this  world,  but  I  expect  to 
see  in  the  world  to  come."  The  man  said, 
"  Let  me  tell  you,  I  have  just  come  down 
from  Jerusalem,  and  I  saw  that  the  village 
carpenter,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  I  saw  a 
man  who  was  born  blind,  who  had  received 
his  sight ;  and  I  never  saw  a  man  with  bet- 
ter sight.  He  does  not  have  to  use  glasses 
now,  and  he  was  born  blind."  Then,  for 
the  first  time  in  this  poor  man's  heart, 
hope  rises,  and  he  says,  "  Tell  me  how  the 
man  got  his  sight .?"  "  Oh,"  says  the  other, 
"  Jesus  first  spat  on  the  ground  and  made 
clay,  and  J^ut  it  on  his  eyes  " — why  that  is 
enough  to  put  a  man's  sight  out,  to  fill  a 
man's  eyes  with  clay —  "  and  then  He  told 
him  to  go  and  wash  his  eyes  in  the  Pool 
of  Siloam,  and  he  would  receive  his  sight. 
And  then,  Bartimeus,  He  does  not  charge 
you  anything,  you  have  no  fee  to  pay;  you 
just  tell  Him  what  you  want,  and  the  poor 
man  has  as  much  influence  as  the  rich.  It 
does  not  need  dukes,  or  lords,  or  influence  ; 
you  just  call  upon  Him  yourself;  and  if 
He  ever  comes  this  way,  don't  let  Him  go 
back  without  your  going  to  see  Jesus." 
And  Bartimeus  said,  "  I  will  indeed  do  so, 
and  ask  Him  for  my  sight."  I  can  imagine 
him  being  led  by  a  child  to  his  seat  as 
usual,  and  that  he  is  crying  out,  "  Please 
give  a  blind  beggar  a  farthing."  He  hears 
the  footsteps  of  the  coming  multitude,  and 
inquires,  "  Who  is  it  passing  }  What  does 
the  multitude  mean.?"  They  tell  him  it  is 
Jesus    of    Nazareth    passing    by.      The 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


69 


moment  he  hears  tl.at  he  says,  "  Why,  that 
is  the  Man  that  gave  sight  to  the  blind."  The 
moment  it  reached  his  ear  that  it  was  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  he  began  to  cry  out  at  the 
top  of  his  voice,  "  Jesus,  Thou  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  upon  me."  Some  of 
those  who  went  before — perhaps  Peter  was 
one  of  them  —  rebuked  him,  thinking  the 
Master  was  going  up  to  Jerusalem  to -be 
crowned  King,  and  did  not  want  to  be  dis- 
tracted. They  never  knew  the  Son  of 
God  when  He  was  here.  He  would  hush 
every  harp  in  heaven  to  hear  a  sinner 
pray;  no  music  would  delight  Him  so 
;nuch.  But  the  blind  man  lifted  up  his 
voice  and  cried  still  louder,  "  Thou  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  upon  me;"  and  the  prayer 
;  cached  the  ears  of  the  Son  of  God,  as 
prayer  always  will,  and  they  led  the  poor 
blind  man  to  Him.  The  Lord  grant  that 
each  one  here  in  this  Agricultural  Hall 
may  cry  out,  "  God,  have  mercy  upon  me 
a  sinner ;  God,  have  mercy  upon  this  soul 
of  mine;"  and  the  Lord  Jesus  will  be  good 
to  you.  Well,  when  Jesus  heard  the  blind 
beggar,  He  commanded  him  to  be  brought 
unto  Him.  So  they  ran  to  him  and  said, 
"  Be  of  good  cheer,  the  Master  calleth  thee ; 
He  hath  a  blessing  for  thee."  When  Jesus 
saw  him  He  said,  "  What  can  I  do  for  you  }" 
"  Lord,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight."  "  You 
shall  have  it ;"  and  the  Lord  gave  it  to  him. 
"Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive."  Oh,  may  sinners 
cry  out  to-night,  "  God,  give  me  my  sight ; 
God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  And 
now  the  beggar  followed  with  the  crowd, 
glorifying  God.  I  can  imagine  he  sang  as 
sweetly  as  Mr.  Sankey ;  no  one  sang  sweeter 
than  he  when  he  shouted,  "  Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David ;"  no  one  sang  louder  than 
this  man  who  had  received  his  sight.  Then 
he  follows  on  with  the  crowd,  which  we 
see  pressing  into  the  gates  of  the  city.  I 
can  imagine  when  he  gets  into  the  city  he 
Bays  to  himself,  "  I  will  go  down  and  see  my 
'A'ife  " — having,  of  course,  after  those  years 
of  blindness,  a  curiosity  to  see  what  his 
wife  looked  like,  also  to  see  his  children. 

THE  CONVERSION  OF  ZACCH.^US. 

As  he  is  passing  down  the  street  a  man 
meets  him  and  turns  round  and  says, 
"  Bartimeus,  is  that  you  ?"  "  Yes,  it's  me." 
"  Well,  I  thought  it  was,  and  yet  I  thought 
my  eyes  must  deceive  me.  How  did  you 
get  your  sight .?"  "  I  just  met  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  outside  the  walls  of  the  city,  and 
I  asked  Him  to  have  mercy  upon  me,  and 
He  gave  me  my  sight,"  "Jesus  of  Nazareth ! 


is  He  in  this  part  of  the  country .?"  "  He  is 
already  on  His  way  to  Jerusalem.  He  is 
now  going  down  to  the  eastern  gate."  "  I 
should  like  to  see  Him,"  says  the  man, 
and  away  he  runs  down  the  street ;  but  he 
cannot  get  a  glimpse  of  Him,  being  little 
of  stature,  on  account  of  the  great  throng 
round  Him.  He  runs  to  a  sycamore  tree, 
and  says  to  himself,  "  If  I  get  up  there  and 
hide,  without  any  one  seeing  me.  He  can- 
not get  by  without  my  getting  a  good  look 
at  Him."  A  great  many  rich  men  do  not 
like  to  be  seen  coming  to  Jesus.  Well, 
there  he  is  in  the  sycamore  tree,  on  a 
branch  hanging  right  over  the  highway, 
and  he  says  to  himself,  "  He  cannot  get  by 
without  my  having  a  good  look  at  Him." 
All  at  once  the  crowd  burst  out.  He 
looks  at  John — "  That's  not  him  ;"  he 
looks  at  Peter — "  That's  not  him."  Then 
he  saw  One  who  was  fairer  than  the  sons 
of  men.  "That's  Him."  And  Zacchaeus, 
just  peeping  out  from  amongst  the  branch- 
es, looked  down  upon  that  wonderful,  yes, 
that  mighty  God-Man,  in  amazement.  At 
last  the  crowd  comes  to  the  tree,  and  it 
looks  as  if  Christ  was  going  by  ;  but  He 
stops  right  under  the  tree,  and  all  at  once 
He  looks  up  and  sees  Zacchseus,  and  He 
says  to  him,  "  Zacchceus,  make  haste  and 
come  down,"  I  can  just  imagine  Zac- 
chasus  says  to  himself, — "  I  wonder  who 
told  Him  my  name.  I  was  never  intro- 
duced to  Him."  But  Christ  knew  all 
about  him.  Sinner,  Christ  knows  all  about 
you  ;  He  knows  your  name  and  your  house. 
Do  not  think  God  does  not  know  you.  If 
you  would  try  to  hide  from  Him,  bear  in 
mind  you  cannot  hide  from  Him.  He 
knows  where  each  one  of  you  is ;  He 
knows  all  about  your  sins.  Well,  He  said 
to  Zaccho2us,  "  Make  haste  and  come 
down."  He  may  have  added,  "  This  is 
the  last  time  I  shall  pass  this  way,  Zac- 
chaeus."  That  is  the  way  He  speaks  to 
sinners, — "  This  may  be  the  last  time  I 
shall  pass  this  way ;  this  may  be  your  last 
chance  of  eternity."  He  may  be  passing 
away  from  some  soul  to-night.  Oh,  sin- 
ner, make  haste  and  come  down  and  re- 
ceive Him.  There  are  some  people  in 
this  nineteenth  century  who  do  not  believe 
in  sudden  conversions.  I  should  like 
them  to  tell  me  where  Zacchseus  was  con- 
verted. He  certainly  was  not  converted 
when  he  went  up  into  the  tree ;  he  cer- 
tainly was  converted  when  he  came  down. 
He  must  have  been  converted  when  he 
came  down.     He  must  have  been  convert- 


70 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ed  somewhere  between  the  branches  and 
the  ground.  The  Lord  converted  him 
just  right  there.  People  say  they  do  not 
believe  in  sudden  conversions,  and  that  if 
a  man  is  converted  suddenly  he  won't  hold 
:ut,  he  won't  be  genuine.  I  wish  we  had 
a  few  men  converted  like  Zacchaius  in 
London ;  it  would  make  no  small  stir. 
When  a  man  begins  to  make  restitution, 
it  is  a  pretty  good  sign  of  conversion.  Let 
men  give  back  money  dishonestly  obtained 
in  London,  and  see  how  quick  people  will 
believe  in  conversion.  Zacchaeus  gave 
half  his  goods  to  the  poor.  What  would 
be  said  if  some  of  the  rich  men  of  London 
did  that  }  Zacchasus  gave  half  his  goods 
all  at  once ;  and  he  says,  "  If  I  have  taken 
anything  from  any  man  falsely,  I  restore 
him  fourfold."  I  think  that  is  the  other 
half.  But  to  get  Christ  is  worth  more 
than  all  his  wealth.  I  imagine  the  next 
morning  one  of  the  servants  of  Zacchceus 
going  with  a  check  for  ;^ioo,  and  saying, 
"  My  master  a  few  years  ago  took  from 
you  wrongfully  about  ;^25,  and  this  is  res- 
titution money."  That  would  give  con- 
fidence in  Zacchoeus'  conversion.  I  wish 
a  few  cases  like  that  would  happen  in  Lon- 
don, and  then  people  would  not  go  on  talk- 
ing against  sudden  conversions. 

THE   COMPLAINTS   OF   MODERN   PHARISEES. 

Now  Christ  becomes  the  guest  of  Zac- 
chceus,  and  while  he  is  in  his  house  the 
Pharisees  begin  to  murmur  and  complain. 
It  would  have  been  a  good  thing  if  all 
those  Pharisees  had  died  off  with  that  gen- 
■eration  ;  but,  unfortunately,  they  have  left 
a  good  many  grandchildren  behind  them, 
living  down  here  now  in  the  afternoon  of 
this  19th  century,  who  are  complaining 
"  This  man  receiveth  sinners." 

Many  men  complain  because  the  Lord 
saves  men  for  nothing,  but  the  Lord  deals 
in  sovereign  grace.  But  while  they  are 
murmuring  and  complaining  on  every  oc- 
casion, Christ  uttered  the  wonderful  words 
of  my  text  for  to-night,  "  For  the  Son  of 
Man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost."  "  I  did  not  come  to  con- 
demn Zacchseus,  to  make  him  wretched ; 
he  is  wretched  enough  now.  I  did  not 
come  here  to  torment  him,  I  came  to  bless 
and  to  save  him."  When  Christ  com- 
/nenced  His  ministry  in  the  wonderful  ser- 
mon on  the  mountain,  there  is  blessing, 
blessing,  blessing.  He  came  to  bless  man, 
and  poor  Zacchaeus  needed  blessing,  and 
He  first  gave  it  him.    If  there  is  some  poor 


Zacchceus  here  to-night,  or  if  there  is  some 
poor  blind  beggar  here  to-night.  He  will 
bless  you.  The  Son  of  man  is  come  for  that 
purpose ;  He  left  Heaven  and  a  throne  for 
that.  He  came  "  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost;"  and  so  the  vilest  man  in 
London  can  be  saved  if  he  will  be.  The 
Lord  is  able  and  willing  to  save.  "  He  is 
come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost."  A  man  must  believe  he  is  lost  be- 
fore he  can  be  saved.  One  reason  why 
many  are  not  saved  is  because  they  do  not 
believe  they  are  lost.  They  fold  their 
filthy  rags  of  self-righteousness  about 
them,  instead  of  acknowledging  that  they 
are  miserable  sinners. 

PREACHING    IN    THE    TOMBS. 

While  I  was  occupying  the  Fulton- 
street  plilpit  in  New  York,  the  governor 
of  the  City  Tombs  Prison  said  he  would 
like  to  have  me  go  down  and  talk  to  the 
prisoners.  After  the  prisoners  were  all 
brought  in,  I  found  there  was  no  chapel 
in  connection  with  that  prison,  and  I 
had  to  talk  to  them  in  their  cells.  I 
talked  from  a  little  iron  railing  running 
right  across  the  narrow  passage-way,  to 
some  three  or  four  hundred  prisoners,  and 
could  not  see  a  man.  I  had  never  had 
that  experience  before.  After  I  had  done, 
I  thought  I  would  like  to  see  who  I  had 
been  talking  to,  and  how  they  had  received 
the  interpretation  of  the  Gospel.  I  went 
to  the  first  door  and  looked  in  the  little 
window  of  a  cell  where  the  inmates  could 
have  best  heard  me.  There  were  some 
men  playing  at  cards.  No  doubt  they  had 
been  playing  all  the  while  I  had  been 
preaching.  They  did  not  want  to  hear. 
Some  men  come  here  to-night  out  of  cu- 
riosity ;  they  do  not  want  to  hear  the  glad 
tidings,  and  they  do  not  believe  the  Gos- 
pel's good  news.  Well,  these  men  had  been 
playing  cards  all  the  while  I  was  preaching. 
I  said,  "  My  friends,  what  is  your  trouble.!*" 
"  Well,  stranger,  false  witnesses  appeared 
against  us.  We  are  innocent."  I  said  to 
myself,  "  Christ  cannot  save  anybody  here ; 
there  is  nobody  guilty."  I  went  to  the  oc- 
cupiers of  the  next  cell  and  asked  why  they 
were  there.  They  said,  "  We  got  into  bad 
company,  and  the  rnan  who  done  the  deed 
got  clear,  and  we  got  caught."  I  said, 
"  Christ  cannot  save  anybody  here."  I 
went  to  the  next  cell  and  asked  how  it  was 
with  them.  They  said,  "  False  witnesses 
went  into  court  and  swore  falsely."  I  said, 
"  Christ  cannot  save   anybody  here."      I 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


n 


went  to  the  next  cell  and  said,  "  How  is  it 
with  you  ?"  The  reply  was,  "  The  fact  is, 
the  man  who  done  the  deed  is  very  much 
like  me.  I  am  perfectly  innocent."  I 
never  found  so  many  innocent  men  in  a 
prison  in  my  life.  It  seemed  that  the  mag- 
istrates who  sent  them  there  were  the  only 
guilty  ones. 

THE  PENITENT  PRISONER. 

I  began  to  get  discouraged,  but  when  I 
had  got  almost  through  I  found  one  man 
with  his  elbows  on  his  knees  and  two 
streams  of  tears  running  down  his  cheeks. 
I  looked  in  at  the  little  window,  and  I  said, 
"  My  friend,  what  is  the  trouble .?"  He 
looked  up  with  despair  and  remorse  on  his 
face,  and  said,  "  My  sins  are  more  than  I 
can  bear."  I  said,  "  Thank  God  for  that." 
"  Ain't  you  the  man  that  has  been  talking 
to  us }  I  thought  you  said  you  was  a 
friend  ;  and  you  say  you  are  glad  my  sins 
are  more  than  I  can  bear."  "Yes."  "I 
don't  understand  your  friendship  if  you 
are  glad  my  sins  are  more  than  I  can  bear." 
"  I  will  explain  it  to  you.  If  your  sins  are 
more  than  you  can  bear,  you  will  cast  them 
on  One  that  will  bear  them  for  you."  "Who 
is  that  V  "  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus  ;"  and  I 
stood  there  at  that  prison  door  and  preach- 
ed Christ,  and  held  up  Christ  for  that  poor 
wounded  man,  who  was  believed  to  be  the 
worst  man  in  the  whole  prison  of  the  city 
of  New  York.  After  telling  him  of  Christ 
I  got  down  and  prayed.  After  I  prayed  I 
said,  "  Now  you  pray."  He  said  he  could 
not  pray  ;  it  would  be  blasphemy.  But  the 
man  put  his  head  on  the  pavement,  and, 
like  the  publican,  without  even  lifting  his 
eyes  towards  heaven,  he  cried,  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  After  prayer, 
when  he  got  up,'  I  took  his  hand,  and  he 
gave  me  a  good  warm  grasp  of  the  hand ; 
a  hot  tear  fell  on  my  hand,  which  burned 
down  into  my  soul.  I  got  so  interested  in 
the  man  that  before  I  started  for  the  hotel, 
I  said,  "  I  will  pray  for  you  to-night,  and  I 
would  have  you  join  me  in  prayer  at  the 
same  time."  That  night,  while  I  was  pray- 
ing in  my  hotel,  as  I  told  him  I  should 
pray  for  him  at  a  certain  hour,  it  seemed 
as  if  I  knew  that  God  was  answering  my 
prayer.  I  could  not  leave  New  York  and 
go  back  to  Chicago  until  I  had  seen  that 
man.  No  sooner  did  I  fix  my  eye  on  the 
man's  countenance,  than  I  saw  that  a  great 
change  had  taken  place.  Remorse  and 
gloom  had  fled  away,  and  the  face  of  the 
man  was  streaming  with  celestial  light.  He 


seized  my  hand,  and  tears  of  joy  trickled 
over  his  cheeks.  I  said,  "  Tell  me  all 
about  it ;"  and  he  said,  "  Last  night,  when 
in  my  cell  praying — I  do  not  know  the 
exact  time,  because  when  I  came  to  prison, 
they  took  away  my  watch,  but  I  think  it 
was  about  midnight — the  Lord  Jesus  took 
away  the  burden,  and  set  me  entirely  free ; 
and  since  then  I  am  the  happiest  man  in 
the  whole  city  of  New  York."  And  I  be- 
lieve he  was,  for  he  told  me  of  the  love, 
joy,  and  peace. that  none  but  one  that  had 
received  the  Lord  Jesus  knew  anything 
about.  After  I  had  talked  and  prayed  v/ith 
him  some  time,  I  bade  him  good-bye. 

GOOD  NEWS  rOR  THE  LOST. 

Now,  my  friends,  can  you  tell  me  how  it 
was  the  Lord  Jesus  came  into  that  prison, 
and  passing  one  cell  after  another,  went  to 
that  one  cell  and  set  the  captive  free  7  It 
was  because  he  believed  he  was  lost,  that 
he  had  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory 
of  God.  He  called  to  God  for  mercy,  and 
God  dealt  him  mercies.  If  there  is  a  man 
or  woman  in  this  audience  to-night  who 
believes  they  are  lost,  I  have  good  news  to 
tell  them — Christ  will  come  after  you.  He 
came  to  save  you.  He  came  to  bless  you. 
Now,  do  not  let  this  night  pass,  my  friends, 
without  just  accepting  salvation  as  the  gift 
of  mercy  from  a  loving  God.  He  wants  to 
deal  out  mercy  and  grace  for  ev-ery  soul 
here.  The  Son  of  man  is  come — what  for.? 
To  seek  and  to  save.  And  do  you  think 
He  is  not  able  to  save  7  And  is  He  not 
willing  to  save.''  There  is  not  a  man  in 
this  audience  but  knows  deep  down  in  his 
heart  that  Christ  is  able  and  willing  to 
save.  My  friends,  let  Him  save  you  to- 
night while  you  are  on  praying  ground ; 
while  God  is  talking  to  you,  and  offering 
you  salvation  without  money  and  with- 
out price.  The  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life.  That  is  the  gift  to-night.  Who 
will  have  it .''  Who  will  take  the  gift } 
Who  will  accept  the  gift  of  God  } 
Who  will  receive  it.?  While  I  am  talk- 
ing to  you,  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.  While 
I  am  speaking  to  you,  just  receive  the  gift 
of  God,  and  go  on  your  way  rejoicing. 
Now,  I  have  no  doubt  that  while  I  am 
speaking  to  you,  there  are  a  good  many  of 
you  that  have  got  friends  praying  for  you ; 
I  have  received  a  good  many  letters,  es- 
pecially from  mothers,  stating  that  they 
have  sons  in  London,  and  praying  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  might  win  their  souls  to 
Christ.      Maybe   some   of  those  sons  arc 


72 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


here  now.  One  of  these  young  men  spoke 
to  me  last  night,  and  told  me  his  mother 
was  very  anxious  that  he  should  attend 
these  meetings.  I  have  remarked  the 
great  number  of  young  men  who  come  to 
our  services.  I  never  saw  more  young 
men  at  a  meeting  than  I  see  to-night.  I 
may  be  speaking  to  more  young  men  than 
ever  I  spoke  to  in  my  life.  How  comes 
this,  that  there  are  so  many  young  men 
here .'  Perhaps  they  have  in  the  country  a 
loving  mother  praying  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  convert  their  hearts  ;  or  a  loving  sis- 
ter, or  a  loving  father,  or  brother,  pleading 
hard  for  their  salvation.  Well,  if  you  have 
got  these  friends  that  are  diligent  for  your 
salvation,  treat  them  kindly,  for  you  will 
not  always  have  them. 

A    YOUNG     man's    TALE. 

I  went  to  a  meeting  in  Chicago  a  few 
years  ago,  and  a  young  man  got  up  and 
said,  "  \S\S\.  you  allow  me  to  speak  to  these 
young  men  1  "  At  first,  as  he  was  a  stran- 
ger, I  thought  I  wouldn't;  and  then  I 
thought  he  might  have  a  message  from 
God,  so  I  said,  "  Say  on."  And  that 
young  man  just  pleaded  with  those  young 
men,  and  said,  in  closing  his  speech  :  "  If 
any  of  you  have  fathers,  or  mothers,  or 
Christian  friends,  who  are  diligent  for  your 
salvation,  treat  them  kindly,  for  you  will 
not  always  have  them.  I  was  an  only  son, 
and  I  had  a  godly  father,  who  v/ent  down 
to  his  grave  praying  for  me,  for  I  v/as  a 
wayward  boy.  After  father  died,  mother 
began  to  be  more  anxious  than  ever. 
Sometimes  she  would  weep  over  me,  and 
say,  '  Oh,  my  boy,  if  you  were  only  a 
Christian  I  should  be  so  happy.'  Some 
nights  I  heard  her  in  her  chamber  weep- 
ing, and  crying  to  God  for  her  boy.  I 
could  not  stand  it  any  longer,  so  I  had  to 
leave  home.  I  must  become  a  Christian, 
or  get  away  from  home.  So  I  ran  away. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  I  heard  of  her, 
and  then  I  was  told  she  was  sick,  and  the 
thought  came  stealing  over  me,  '  She  may 
die.  I  will  go  back.'  And  then  I  thought, 
'  If  I  go  back  home,  I  will  have  to  become 
a  Christian.  I  cannot  live  at  home  with 
mother  without  becoming  a  Christian  ;  I 
will  not  go.'  The  next  time  I  heard  from 
that  mother  I  heard  she  was  much  worse. 
Then  the  thought  came  to  me,  '  If  my 
mother  died,  and  I  should  never  see  her, 
I  should  never  forgive  myself.  So  I  start- 
ed off.  There  was  no  railway  into  the 
village,  and  I  had  to  take  coach.     I  got  to 


the  village  about  sundown  ;  the  moon  had 
commenced  to  shine.  My  mother  lived 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  little 
town,  and  to  get  home  I  had  to  go  by  the 
old  village  churchyard,  so  I  thought  I 
would  go  and  look  at  father's  grave,  and 
see  if  there  was  any  new-made  grave.  As 
I  drew  near  my  heart  began  to  quake.  I 
could  not  tell  why.  The  moon  showed 
me  a  new-made  grave,  and  then  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life  the  question  occurred 
to  me,  '  Who  is  going  to  pray  for  my  lost 
soul  now .?  Father's  gone  and  mother's 
dead.'  I  took  up  some  of  the  earth  and 
found  it  was  just  damp,  and  I  threw  myself 
on  my  mother's  grave,  and  there  I  spent 
the  night.  I  did  not  move  until  the  break 
of  day ;  but  before  I  left  that  grave,  my 
mother's  God  had  become  my  own.  And, 
young  men,  I  believe  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  forgave  me  that  night,  but  I  never 
forgave  myself."  Young  man,  if  you  have 
a  praying  mother  or  a  praying  father,  treat 
them  kindly,  for  you  will  not  always  have 
them  ;  they  will  soon  all  be  gone,  and  that 
voice  which  is  now  pleading  day  and  night 
for  your  soul  will  be  hushed  in  the  grave. 
Therefore,  this  night,  while  they  are  pray- 
ing, seek  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  it 
won't  take  an  anxious  sinner  long  to  meet 
an  anxious  Saviour.  Let  your  hearts  be 
lifted  up  now,  friends,  to  Christ  in  united 
prayer  for  every  unsaved  soul  in  this  hall 
this  night ;  and  now  let  us  all  have  a  few 
moments  of  silent  prayer. 


III. 
SAVED  OR  LOST. 

THE   ONE  ALTERNATIVE. 

"  For  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost." — Luke  xix.  lo. 

I  WANT  to  call  your  attention  to  the  same 
text  that  we  had  last  night.  I  had  really 
only  just  commenced  with  the  text  when  it 
was  time  to  close.  Now  before  I  begin,  I 
want  to  ask  a  question  of  every  man  and 
woman  in  this  room,  and  I  should  like  every 
one  just  to  take  the  question  home  with 
him — "Am  I  saved,  or  am  I  lost.?"  It 
must  be  one  thing  or  the  other.  There  is 
no  neutrality  about  the  matter.  A  man 
cannot  be  saved  and  lost  at  the  same  time  ; 
it  is  thoroughly  impossible.  Every  man 
and  woman  in  this  audience  must  either  be 
saved  or  lost,  if  the  Bible  be  true ;  and  if 
I  thought  it  was  not  true,  I  should  not  be 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


73 


here  preaching,  and  I  would  not  advise 
you  people  to  come  if  you  think  the  Bible 
is  not  true  ;  but  if  the  Bible  is  true,  every 
man  and  every  woman  in  this  room  must 
either  be  in  the  dark  or  out  of  it,  either 
saved  or  lost. 

Last  night,  a  man  yonder  told  me  that 
he  was  anxious  to  be  saved,  but  Christ  had 
never  sought  for  him.  I  said,  "  What  are 
you  waiting  for?"  "Why,"  said  he,  "I 
am  waiting  for  Christ  to  call  me ;  as  soon 
as  He  calls  me  I  am  coming."  Now,  I  do 
not  believe  there  is  a  man  in  London  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  has  not  striven  with  at 
some  period  of  his  life.  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  a  person  in  this  audience  but  that 
has  been  called  ;  I  do  not  believe  that  there 
is  a  person  in  this  audience  but  that  the 
Son  of  God  has  sought  for  and  is  seeking 
for  him. 

HOW  THE  SAVIOUR  SEEKS. 

Now,  for  a  minute  or  two,  let  us  look 
and  see  how  He  seeks.  There  are  different 
ways  in  which  the  Son  of  man  seeks.  He 
very  often  seeks  though  some  faithful  min- 
ister. Many  of  you  have  sat  under  faithful 
ministers  ;  you  have  heard  heart-searching 
sermons,  and  the  truth  has  gone  down 
deep  into  your  hearts  ;  you  have  been  many 
a  time  touched,  and  tears  have  come  down 
your  cheeks,  and  you  have  felt  "  almost 
persuaded  to  be  a  Christian."  That  is  the 
Son  of  God  seeking  for  your  soul  through 
that  minister.  You  have  heard  a  sermon 
sometimes  that  has  roused  you,  so  that  you 
could  not  forget  it,  and  for  days  you  have 
been  under  deep  conviction.  That  is  the 
way  the  Son  of  God  seeks.  Some  of  you 
have  had  a  tract  put  in  your  hand,  with  a 
startling  title,  perhaps,  "  Eternity !  where 
will  you  spend  it .''"  and  the  arrow  has  gone 
home.  You  may  have  been  troubled,  and 
may  have  pulled  out  that  arrow  and  tried  to 
forget  it.  That  is  the  Son  of  God  seek- 
ing for  your  soul  through  that  tract. 
Perhaps  some  of  you  have  had  a  faithful 
Sabbath-school  teacher  who  has  wept  over 
your  souls  in  your  earlier  days,  who  prayed 
for  you  and  plead  with  you  t9  become  Chris- 
tians. That  is  the  Son  of  God  seeking  for 
your  soul  through  that  faithful  Sabbath- 
school  teacher.  Many  of  you  have  had 
godly,  praying  mothers,  that  have  prayed 
all  night  for  your  soul.  It  is  through  the 
prayers  of  such  a  mother  that  the  Son  of 
God  is  seeking  you.  Many  of  you,  per- 
haps, have  been  laid  away  upon  a  bed  of 
sickness,    and  have   had  time  to  meditate 


in  the  silent  watches  of  the  night;  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  come  into  your  chamber, 
has  come  to  your  bedside,  and  you  have 
been  troubled  about  eternity  and  about  the 
grave,  and  where  you  would  spend  eternity, 
and  how  it  would  be  beyond  the  grave ! 
That  is  the  Son  of  God  seeking  for  your 
soul.  Some  of  you  have  lost  friends.  I 
doubt  whether  there  is  a  man  or  woman  in 
this  audience  who  has  not  lost  some  loved 
one ;  it  may  be  a  praying  mother,  it  may  be 
a  loved  father,  it  may  be  a  dear  child ;  and 
when  death  came  and  took  that  one  from 
you,  you  were  greatly  troubled.  You  might- 
have  taken  that  friend  by  the  hand,  and  as: 
he  or  she  was  dying,  you  might  have  said. 
"  I  will  meet  you  in  heaven."  The  Spirit 
of  God  strove  in  yoTi  for  weeks  and  months 
and  yet  the  Spirit  left  you  because  you 
strove  against  and  resisted  the  workings  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  My  friends,  that  is  the 
way  the  Son  of  man  seeks.  Can  you  rise 
in  this  hall  to-night  and  say  that  the  Son  of 
God  never  sought  for  you  ?  Is  there  a  per- 
son in  this  hall  that  can  rise  and  say,  "  I 
have  lived  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  fifty  years, 
and  the  Son  of  man  never  sought  for  my 
soul " .?  I  do  not  believe  that  man  or 
woman  lives  in  all  London. 

PRAYING  FOR  LONDON. 

My  friend.  He  has  been  calling  for  you 
from  your  earliest  childhood,  and  He  has 
put  it  into  the  hearts  of  God's  own  people 
just  to  call  you  together  in  this  hall.  This 
hall  has  been  opened  at  great  expense,  and 
prayer  is  going  up  all  over  the  Christian 
world  for  London.  Perhaps  there  never 
has  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  your  life 
when  so  many  were  praying  for  you  4s  at 
the  present  time.  That  is  the  Son  of  God 
seeking  for  your  soul  through  the  prayers 
of  the  Church,  through  the  prayers  of  min- 
isters, through  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  not 
only  in  London,  but  throughout  the  world. 
I  have  received  news  to-day  in  a  dispatch 
sent  across  from  America  that  all  the 
churches  nearly,  in.  America,  are  praying 
for  London,  What  does  it  mean.'  God 
has  laid  it  upon  the  heart  of  the  Church 
throughout  the  world  to  pray  for  London. 
It  must  be  that  God  has  something  good  in 
store  for  London  ;  the  Son  of  man  is  coming 
to  London  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
was  lost,  and  I  pray  that  the  Good  Shep- 
herd may  enter  this  hall  to-night  and  may 
come  to  many  a  heart,  and  that  you  may 
hear  the  still  small  voice :  "  Behold,  I 
stand  at  the  door  and  knock;  if  any  man 


•74 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


will  hear  My  voice  and  open  the  door,  I 
will  come  in  unto  him  and  will  sup  with 
him,  and  he  with  Me."  O  friends,  open 
the  door  to-night,  and  let  the  heavenly 
visitor  in.  Don't  turn  Him  away  any 
longer.  Don't  say  with  Felix,  *'  Go  thy 
way  this  time,  and  when  I  have  a  conven- 
ient season  I  will  call  for  thee."  Make 
this  a  convenient  season ;  make  this  the 
night  of  your  salvation.  Receive  the  gift 
of  God  to-night,  and  open  the  door  of  your 
heart,  and  say,  "  Welcome,  thrice  welcome 
into  this  heart  of  mine ; "  and  He  will 
come.  You  invite  Him,  and  see  how 
quickly  He  will  come.  My  friend,  He  is 
come.  "  The  grace  of  God  hath  appeared, 
wringing  silvation  unto  all  men."  Oh,  that 
the  loss  of  a  soul  may  wake  us  up  to-night, 
that  we  may  know  what  it  means !  I  be- 
lieve the  world  is  asleep — and  the  Church 
too.  I  do  not  believe  there  would  be  a  dry 
eye  in  this  audience  if  we  could  for  five 
minutes  get  a  glimpse  of  a  lost  soul.  We 
mourn  with  men  who  have  lost  health  ;  we 
pity  them,  we  sympathize  with  them,  and 
we  say,  "It  is  very  sad."  We  mourn 
with  men  who  have  lost  wealth,  and  we 
think  it  is  very  sad.  But  what  is  health, 
what  is  wealth,  compared  with  the  soul .'' 

A  TOUCHING  CHICAGO  STORY. 

I  was  in  an  eye  infirmary  at  Chicago,  on 
the  Sabbath  before  the  great  fire.  A  mother 
brought  her  little  baby  to  the  doctor — a 
child  only  a  few  months  old — and  she 
wanted  the  doctor  to  look  at  the  child's 
eyes.  He  did  so,  and  he  said  to  the  mother, 
**  Your  child  is  blind ;  it  will  never  see 
again ;  you  have  neglected  it ;  if  you  had 
brought  it  here  three  days  ago  I  could  have 
saved  the  sight."  The  moment  the  doctor 
said  that,  the  mother  pressed  the  little  child 
to  her  bosom,  and  there  was  a  wail  that 
came  from  that  mother  that  broke  my 
heart.  I  wept,  the  doctor  wept ;  we  could 
not  help  but  weep.  She  pressed  her  dar- 
ling child  to  her  bosom.  "  My  darling," 
she  said,  "  are  you  never  to  see  the  mother 
that  gave  you  birth  .''  My  child!  my  child!" 
It  was  a  sight  that  would  move  almost  any 
heart.  But  what  is  the  loss  of  sight  com- 
pared with  the  loss  of  a  soul }  I  would 
rather  a  thousand  times  have  these  eyes 
dug  out  of  my  head,  and  go  through  the 
world  blind,  than  lose  my  soul.  I  have  a 
son,  and  no  one  but  God  knows  how  I  love 
him  ;  but  I  would  see  those  beautiful  eyes 
dug  out  of  his  head  to-night  rather  than 
see  him  grow  up  to  manhood  and  go  down 


to  the  grave  without  Christ  and  without 
hope.  The  loss  of  a  soul  !  Christ  knew 
what  it  meant.  That  is  what  brought  Him 
from  the  bosom  of  the  Father ;  that  is  what 
brought  Him  from  the  Throne ;  that  is  what 
brought  Him  to  Calvary.  The  Son  of  God 
was  in  earnest.  When  He  died  on  Calvary 
it  was  to  save  a  lost  world ;  it  was  to  save 
your  soul  and  mine. 

THE  LOSS  OF  A  CHILD. 

A  friend  of  mine  in  Chicago  took  his 
children  out  one  beautiful  day  in  the  sum- 
mer. They  were  the  children  of  a  large 
Sabbath-school,  and  they  were  to  have  a 
day  in  the  country.  There  was  a  little  boy 
on  the  platform  of  the  railway-station,  and 
by  some  mistake  he  fell  down  under  the 
wheels,  and  the  whole  train  passed  over 
him.  The  train  went  back,  and  the  body 
was  found  so  mangled  that  the  superintend- 
ent had  to  take  off  his  coat  to  tie  up  the 
mangled  corpse.  He  left  it  at  the  station, 
and,  taking  two  of  the  teachers  with  him, 
Avent  to  the  house  of  the  parents.  (The 
little  boy  was  an  only  one.)  When  they 
got  to  the  house  one  said  to  the  others, 
"  You  go  in."  "  No,  I  can't,"  was  the  reply. 
The  superintendent  wanted  the  teachers  to 
go  in,  because  he  thought  the  parents 
would  blame  him  ;  but  the  teachers  refused 
to  go.  So  the  superintendent  went  in. 
He  found  the  parents  in  the  dining-room 
at  dinner.  He  called  the  father  out,  think- 
ing that  he  would  tell  the  father  first,  that 
he  might  break  the  news  to  the  mother. 
Taking  him  into  another  room,  he  said, 
"  I  have  sad  news  to  tell  you ;  your  little 
Jemmie  has  got  run  over."  The  father 
turned  deadly  pale.  "  Is  he  dead  }  "  he 
asked.  "  Yes,  sir,  he  is  dead."  Then  the 
father  rushed  into  the  dining-room,  and  in- 
stead of  breaking  the  news  gently  to  his 
wife,  he  cried  out  like  a  madman,  "  Dead, 
dead  !  "  The  mother  said,  "  Who  ?  "  Our 
little  Jemmie."  Said  the  young  man  who 
told  it  me  the  next  day,  "  I  cann^)t  tell  you 
what  I  suffered  when  that  mother  came 
rushing  out  to  me,  and  said,  '  Where  is  my 
boy.?  Where  are  his  remains  .-*  Take  me 
to  them  that  I  may  see  him.'  I  told  the 
mother  that  the  body  was  so  mangled  that 
she  could  not  identify  it ;  and  she  fainted 
away  at  my  feet."  Said  he,  "  Moody,  I 
would  not  be  the  messenger  of  such  tidings 
as  that  again  if  you  would  give  me  all  Chi- 
cago." There  is  not  a  mother  or  a  father 
in  this  hall  but  would  say  it  is  terrible  to 
lose  a  beautiful   child  like  that,  to  have  it 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


75 


swept  away  so  suddenly.  Well,  it  is  terri- 
ble, but,  my  friend,  what  is  that  in  com- 
parison with  the  loss  of  the  soul  ? 

A  MORE  TERRIBLE  LOSS. 

Suppose  that  child  had  grown  up  to  man- 
hood, and  had  died  a  drunkard,  and  gone 
down  to  a  drunkard's  grave.  See  the 
hundreds  and  thousands  in  London  reeling 
their  way  down,  not  only  to  the  drunkard's 
grave,  but  to  the  drunkard's  hell.  I  tell 
you,  my  friend,  I  would  rather  have  a  train 
a  hundred  miles  long  run  over  my  boy,  so 
that  I  could  not  find  a  speck  of  his  body — 
I  would  rather  have  him  die  in  early  child- 
hood, than  have  him  grow  up  to  manhood, 
and  die  without  God  and  without  hope.  It 
is  terrible  for  a  man  to  die  outside  the  Ark. 
It  is  a  terrible  thing  for  a  man  to  die  with- 
out hope  and  without  mercy,  especially  in 
this  Gospel  land,  where  he  is  exalted  to 
heaven  with  privilege,  where  the  Gospel  is 
proclaimed  faithfully  from  Sunday  to  Sun- 
day, yea,  from  day  to  day,  and  one  might 
say,  from  hour  to  hour.  Through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  great  city,  the 
Gospel  has  been  proclaimed  as  faithfully, 
and  perhaps  more  faithfully,  than  in  any 
other  city  in  the  world.  London,  I  say,  is 
exalted  to  heaven  with  privileges,  and  it  is 
a  sad  thing,  indeed,  tha,t  a  man  should  go 
to  hell  from  London,  for  then  he  goes 
down  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  Gospel.  He 
goes  down  from  a  Gospel  land.  He  goes 
down  to  hell  from  a  land  where  he  has 
heard  the  glorious  tidings  of  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.  Yes;  you  say  it  is  very 
sad  to  see  a  child  like  that  swept  away,  or 
to  see  a  little  child  lose  its  sight.  You  say  it 
is  very  sad  to  see  a  man  lose  his  wealth  and 
become  poor.  It  is  very  sad  to  see  a  man 
lose  his  reputation.  But,  my  friends,  bear 
in  mind  there  is  hope.  A  man  can  come 
to  Christ  if  he  has  lost  his  reputation  and 
his  character.  Christ  will  "  receive  "  men 
who  have  not  got  any  reputation  ;  Christ 
will  "  receive  "  men  who  have  not  got  any 
character ;  and  they  may  have  a  seat  in 
the  kingdom  of  God.  But,  if  a  man  dies 
without  God,  then  there  is  no  hope.  You 
go  to  the  grave  and  weep  over  it,  and  when 
the  morning  of  resurrection  shall  come,  that 
man  will  rise  to  everlasting  shame  and  con- 
tempt. The  star  of  Bethlehem  will  not 
shine  over  that  grave.  Oh,  my  friends,  let 
us  wake  up,  and  let  us  haste  to  the  rescue. 
Let  us,  as  fathers  and  mothers,  see  that  our 
.  children  are  brought   into    the   ark,    that 


they  are  saved,  that  they  are  gathered  early 
into  the  fold  of  Christ. 

THE  POOR  DRUNKARD. 

I  was  over  in  this  country  in  1872.  About 
that  time  there  was  a  young  man  who  had 
come  from  the  country  to  London.  He 
was  the  only  son  of  a  widow.  He  was  her 
prop  and  her  stay ;  her  hope  and  her  com- 
fort. Oh,  how  that  widow  loved  that  boy  ! 
How  her  prayers  went  up  for  him !  When 
he  came  to  this  city  his  employer  invited 
him  to  the  theatre,  and  invited  him  to 
drink.  I  have  met  that  mother  since  I  have 
been  on  this  trip,  and  she  told  me  that  the 
employer  discharged  that  young  man  after 
he  became  a  drunkard  ;  that  he  refused  to 
have  him  in  his  employ  ;  that  her  son  came 
home  and  died  a  poor  drunkard.  That 
mother  is  now  weeping  over  that  boy,  and 
she  mourns  as  a  mother  without  hope,  be- 
cause it  is  said  that  no  drunkard  shall  in- 
herit the  kingdom  of  God.  Now,  that  is 
terrible.  How  many  mothers  have  sons 
in  London  hastening  to  ruin  !  God  wants 
you  and  me  to  go  and  tell  them  the  glad  tid- 
ings, to  invite  them  to  the  Gospel  feast 
And  there  is  not  a  man  in  all  London  so 
far  gone  but  that  Christ  will  save  him. 
If  we  will  just  go  and  labor  for  them 
and  pray  for  them,  God  will  give  us  the 
privilege  of  winning  many  of  them  into 
His  kingdom. 

"  SAVED  !" 

A  few  years  ago — I  think  it  was  only  two 
years  this  month — a  vessel  of  the  White 
Star  line  went  to  pieces  on  a  rock  off  the 
coast  of  Newfoundland,  and  500  men  went 
down  to  a  watery  grave.  There  was  a 
young  man  of  great  promise,  having  a  large 
business  in  Detroit,  who  was  on  board  that 
vessel,  and  soon  after  she  went  down  there 
came  a  dispatch  to  Detroit  to  his  wife  and 
partner  to  say  that  he  was  lost.  The  busi- 
ness was  suspended,  and  that  young  wife 
was  thrown  into  deep  mourning.  Her 
heart  was  just  broken,  and  the  mother's 
heart  was  bleeding  that  her  boy  had  gone 
down,  as  they  supposed.  But  in  a  few 
hours  there  came  another  dispatch  over  the 
wires,  "  Saved  !"  with  his  name  signed  to 
it.  They  felt  so  grateful,  that  they  had  the 
dispatch  framed  and  put  up  in  his  office, 
and  there  it  is.  If  you  go  into  that  man's 
office  now  to  do  business  with  him,  you 
may  see  that  dispatch,  "  Saved  !"  Now, 
let  the  news  flash  over  the  wires  to  heaven 


76 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


to-night,  sinner,  that  you  want  to  be  saved. 
You  can  be  saved,  if  you  will.  God  is  able 
to  save.  God  is  willing  to  save.  God  is 
waiting  to  save.  Now,  this  night,  make  up 
your  mind  that  you  will  be  saved.  Make 
up  your  mind  that  you  will  press  into  the 
kingdom.  God  invites  you  to  come.  He 
invites  you  to  come  just  as  you  are.  "  Him 
that  Cometh  unto  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out." 

ROWLAND  HILL  AND   LADY    ANNE  ERSKINE. 

I  have  seen  a  story  in  print,  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  is  true  or  not,  but  it  illus- 
trates a  good  point.  I  see  our  friend  Dr. 
Newman  Hall  here  to-night.  The  story  I 
speak  of  is  told  of  a  predecessor  of  his, 
Rowland  Hill.  One  day  he  was  preaching 
in  the  open  air  to  a  vast  crowd  of  people, 
when  Lady  Anne  Erskine  was  riding  by. 
She  said  to  her  footman,  "  Who  is  that 
man  who  is  drawing  so  vast  a  crowd .''" 
She  was  then  told  that  it  was  the  celebrated 
Rowland  Hill.  "  Drive  me,"  said  she, 
"  near  the  platform,  so  that  I  may  listen." 
The  man  went  on  preaching,  and,  seeing 
by  the  lady's  dress  that  she  belonged  to 
royalty,  he  turned  to  some  one  on  the  plat- 
form and  inquired  who  it  was.  They  told 
him  it  was  Lady  Anne  Erskine.  He  con- 
tinued his  preaching,  and  then  all  at  once 
he  stopped  and  said,  "  My  friends,  I  have 
got  something  to-day  to  put  up  for  sale.  I 
am  going  to  sell  it  by  auction."  Everybody 
of  course  was  startled  to  think  that  a  man 
should  stop  in  the  middle  of  a  sermon  to 
sell  something  by  auction.  Said  he,  "It  is 
the  soul  of  Lady  Anne  Erskine.  Is  any 
one  going  to  bid  for  her  soul .?  Hark  !  Ah  ! 
I  hear  a  bid.  Who  bids  .?  '  Satan.'  '  Sa- 
tan, what  will  you  give  for  this  soul.''  I 
will  give  riches  and  honor  and  pleasure. 
Yea,  I  will  give  the  whole  world  for  her 
soul.'  Hark!  I  hear  another  bid.  Ah! 
methinks  I  hear  another  bid.  Who  bids? 
'The  Lord  Jesus.'  'Jesus,  what  will  you 
give  for  this  soul  T  'I  will  give  peace  and 
joy  and  comfort  that  the  world  knows  not 
of.  Yea,  I  will  give  eternal  life  for  her 
soul.' "  He  then  turned  to  Lady  Anne 
Erskine,  and  said,  "  You  have  heard  the 
two  bidders  for  your  soul.  Which  bidder 
shall  have  it .?"  It  is  said  that  she  ordered 
her  footman  to  open  her  carriage  door,  and, 
rushing  in,  she  began  to  weep,  and  said, 
"  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  have  my  soul,  if  He 
v,'-ill  accept  it."  Now  that  may  be  true  or 
not ;  but  there  is  one  thing  that  I  know  to 
be  true — that   there  are   two  bidding  for 


your  soul  and  mine.  Satan  bids,  and  he 
offers  that  which  he  cannot  give.  He  is  a 
liar  and  has  been  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  I  pity  the  man  who  is  living  on 
the  promises  of  the  devil.  He  will  never 
satisfy.  But  the  Lord  Jesus  is  able  to  give 
all  that  He  offers.  He  offers  peace  and 
joy  and  comfort  that  the  world  knows  not 
of.  He  offers  eternal  life  in  the  kingdom 
of  God.  He  offers  a  seat  in  His  mansions. 
We  are  to  sit  with  Him  upon  His  throne. 
May  God  help  you  this  night.  Make  up 
your  minds  to-night  that  you  will  not  leave 
the  Agricultural  Hall  until  the  great  ques- 
tion of  eternity  is  settled,  until  you  have 
crossed  the  borderland,  and  pressed  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Make  up  your  mind 
to  this.  Make  up  your  mind  that  this  shall 
be  the  night  of  your  salvation.  "  Now  is 
the  accepted  time ;  now  is  the  day  of  sal- 
vation." 

THE  BOY  AND  THE  DARK  MOUNTAIN. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  little  story 
going  through  the  American  religious  press 
that  touched  my  heart  as  a  father.  It  was 
about  the  death  of  a  little  boy.  The  mother 
thought  her  little  boy  was  safe  in  the  arms 
of  Jesus.  She  thought  he  was  trusting 
sweetly  in  Christ ;  but  one  day  as  he  drew 
along  towards  the  chambers  of  death,  she 
came  into  his  room„and  he  said,  as  he  was 
looking  out  of  the  window,  "Mother,  what 
are  those  mountains  that  I  see  yonder .?" 
The  mother  said,  "  Eddie,  there  is  no 
mountain  in  sight  of  the  house."  "  Don't 
you  see  them,  mother.?"  said  he  ;  "  they're 
so  high  and  so  dark.  Eddie  has  got  to 
cross  those  mountains.  Won't  you  take 
him  in  your  arms  and  carry  him  over  those 
mountains.?"  The  mother  said,  "Eddie, 
I  would  if  I  could,  but  I  cannot."  Now, 
I  want  to  say  to  you  that  there  is  a  time 
coming  when  your  mother  cannot  help 
you.  There  is  a  time  coming  when  your 
friends  cannot  help  you.  When  you  come 
to  the  mountain,  if  you  have  not  Christ,  you 
must  take  that  journey  alone,  for  there  v.'ill 
be  no  one  to  help  you  then.  What  will  you 
do  in  the  swelling  Jordan,  without  a  Savior, 
without  Christ.?  but,  if  you  have  Him, 
He  won't  leave  you.  What  does  He  say  "i 
"  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  fear  no  evil. 
Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 
Now,  this  little  boy,  instead  of  being 
troubled  by  a  valley,  was  troubled  by  a 
mountain.  The  mother  prayed  with  that 
little  boy.     Then  she  said,  "  Eddie,  you 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


77 


must  take  your  eyes  off  your  mother.  You 
must  have  your  eyes  upon  Jesus.  He  will 
help  you."  The  mother  again  prayed 
with  him,  and  tried  to  get  his  little  mind 
off  from  the  dark  mountain.  All  at  once 
he  said,  "  Mother,  hark !  don't  you  hear 
them  call .?"  "  Hear  who,  Eddie  ?"  "  Don't 
you  see  the  angels  just  on  the  other  side 
of  the  mountain  }  They  are  calling  for 
me.  Take  me,  mother,  and  carry  me  over 
the  mountain."  The  mother _  said  again, 
"  Why,  my  boy,  I  cannot  go  with  you ;  but 
Christ  will  be  with  you.  He  will  take  you 
safe  over  the  mountains  if  you  trust  Him." 
Again  the  mother  prayed  for  her  little  boy, 
for  she  could  not  bear  to  have  him  die  in 
that  state  of  mind,  so  troubled  about  the 
mountain.  At  length  he  closed  his  eyes 
and  he  prayed,  "  Lord  Jesus,  be  with  me, 
and  take  me  over  the  mountains."  Then 
he  opened  his  little  eyes,  and  said, "  Good- 
bye, mamma;  Jesus  is  coming  to  carry  me 
over  the  mountains;"  and  the  little  sufferer 
was  gone.  Sinner,  Christ  has  come  to- 
night to  carry  you  over  the  mountains. 
He  will  carry  you  safe.  He  will  carry 
you  over  the  mountains  of  unbelief,  if  you 
will  only  let  Him.  Oh  !  may  God  help 
you  this  night  to  press  into  His  kingdom. 


IV. 

MAN  SEEKING  FOR  GOD. 

"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found, 
call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is  near." — Isaiah 
Iv.  6. 

For  the  last  two  nights  some  of  you 
may  remember  I  have  been  speaking  about 
the  Son  of  man  seeking  that  which  was 
lost.  Now  to-night  I  want  to  bring  out 
the  other  side — man  seeking  for  God. 
"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be 
found,  call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is 
near."  Now  in  the  29th  chapter  of  the 
prophecy  of  Jeremiah  we  are  told  how  we 
may  find  God.  God  says,  "  Ye  shall  find 
Me  when  ye  shall  search  for  Me  with  all 
your  heart."  Now  it  won't  take  a  great  while 
for  an  anxious  sinner  to  meet  an  anxious 
God.  It  won't  take  a  great  while  for  a 
man  who  is  really  in  earnest  about  the  sal- 
vation of  his  soul  to  find  peace  in  Him.  I 
never  yet  found  a  man  really  with  his 
heart  set  upon  this  one  thing — to  find 
God, — but  that  he  soon  found  his  way 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  The  great 
trouble  with  men  is,  that  they  are  not 
really  in  earnest.     Men  don't  seek  for  God 


as  they  seel^  for  wealth  and  position  down 
here  in  this  world.  Suppose  I  should  say 
to-night  that  I  lost  last  night  in  this  hall  a 
diamond  worth  ^^20,000 — which  I  didn't 
do ;  but  suppose  I  should  say  I  did,  and 
that  I  would  give  any  one  ;;^io,ooo  that 
found  it.  I  would  not  give  much  for  the 
sermon.  You  would  be  thinking  about 
the  diamond  all  the  evening;  you  would 
be  thinking,  "  I  wish  I  could  find  that  dia- 
mond. I  should  like  that  ^10,000."  And 
I  can  imagine  as  soon  as  the  meeting  was 
over — and  some  of  you  would  not  wait  for 
that — you  would  look  about  and  search 
this  hall.  How  earnestly  you  would  seek 
for  that  diamond  !  Well,  is  there  a  man 
or  woman  in  this  audience  that  will  say 
that  salvation  is  not  worth  more  than  all 
the  diamonds  in  the  world,  and  that  it  is 
not  worth  all  the  goods  of  this  world? 
Now,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  every  man  and 
woman  here  to-night  can  find  God  if  they 
will }  "  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  He  may 
be  found."  Why,  the  way  that  text  reads 
implies  that  there  is  a  time  coming  when 
man  cannot  find  God,  when  men  shall  seek 
and  not  be  able  to  find.  We  read  of  such 
a  thing.  We  read  of  their  knocking  at  the 
door  when  it  is  shut.  We  read  that  they 
sought  with  tears,  but  sought  too  late. 
Not  but  what  there  was  a  time.  I  believe 
there  is  a  time  in  the  history  of  every  man 
when  he  can  accept  the  gift  of  God,  if  he 
will ;  when  he  can  press  into  the  kingdom 
of  God,  if  he  will. 

A    LESSON    FROM    THE    GOLD    FIELDS. 

When  a  man  becomes  really  in  earnest 
about  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  when  a 
man  seeks  for  that  pearl  of  great  price,  the 
kingdom  of  God,  as  men  seek  for  wealth 
and  honor  down  here,  and  as  men  seek  for 
position,  then  it  is  we  will  see  hundreds 
and  thousands  pressing  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  I  was  out  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
three  or  four  years  ago,  and  the  news 
would  come  to  a  town  that  there  was  gold 
found  sometimes  three  or  four  hundred 
miles  away.  Then  that  town  would  be 
full  of  excitement ;  the  fever  would  rise 
very  high,  and  in  course  of  twenty-four 
hours  you  would  see  men  pack_  up,  and 
away  they  would  go,  leaving  their  wives, 
their  children,  their  homes,  comfort  and 
everything,  and  go  off  these  hundreds  of 
miles  to  seek  for  wealth.  There  was  a  re- 
port that  a  silver  mine  had  been  found  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  men  would  go 
off  thousands  of  miles,  and  go  down  into 


7S 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


the  bowels  of  the  earth,  working  hard,  day 
and  night,  in  order  to  find  a  little  of  the 
silver.  I  could  not  help  but  admire  their 
earnestness.  I  am  quite  sure  you  like  to 
see  a  man  in  earnest,  and  going  into  busi- 
ness with  all  his  heart.  You  like  to  see  a 
man,  whatever  he  does,  do  it  with  a  whole 
heart.  You  do  not  like  a  half-hearted 
man.  Why  should  not  we  be  just  as  much 
in  earnest  about  the  salvation  of  our  souls 
as  men  are  to  accumulate  wealth  }  Let  a 
war  break  out,  and  there  is  a  chance  of 
men  achieving  honor  on  the  battle-field, 
and  men  come  forward  and  volunteer. 
They  leave  their  homes,  their  wives,  and 
their  children,  and  go  thousands  of  miles 
away,  to  India  or  China,  or  all  round  the 
world,  if  there  is  a  chance  of  getting  honor, 
just  for  a  few  short  fleeting  years,  down 
here  in  this  world.  If  men  are  willing  to 
give  up  everything  for  wealth  or  honor  in 
this  life,  how  much  more  ought  we  to  be 
willing  to  give  up  everything  for  the  life 
to  come  !  The  gift  of  God  is  life  without 
end,  eternal  life.  May  every  anxious  man 
and  woman  get  it  to-night.  Of  course  you 
admit  that  this  is  worth  more  than  every- 
thing else.  If  you  do,  why  don't  you  ask 
for  it.?  God  says  you  shall  find  Him  if 
you  seek  Him  with  all  your  heart. 

A    LIFEBOAT    STORY. 

I  remember  reading  some  time  ago  of  a 
vessel  being  wrecked  at  sea.  The  life- 
boats were  lowered,  and  there  were  not 
enough  boats  to  take  all  on  board.  There 
was  one  man  in  the  water  who,  anxious  to 
save  his  life,  swam  up  to  the  lifeboat,  and 
reached  out  his  hand  and  wanted  to  get 
in,  and  one  of  the  men  in  the  boat  drew  a 
sword  and  cut  off  that  hand.  The  man 
swam  up  again  and  laid  hold  of  the  boat 
with  the  other  hand,  and  the  man  in  the 
boat  drew  the  sword  again  and  cut  off  the 
other  hand.  But  the  man  was  so  anxious 
and  in  earnest  about  saving  his  life,  that 
he  swam  up  again  and  seized  the  boat  with 
his  teeth.  And  then  the  men  in  the  boat 
relented  ;  they  v/ould  not  do  any  more  to 
him ;  they  could  not  cut  off  his  head,  so 
they  took  him  into  the  boat  and  saved  his 
life,  because  he  was  so  much  in  earnest. 
See  what  men  will  do  for  their  lives.  Let 
a  man  be  in  a  wrecked  vessel  who  is  worth 
a  million  sterling,  and  if  that  vessel  can  be 
saved  from  going  down  only  by  his  giv- 
ing away  that  million  sterling,  he  will 
give  it  in  a  minute  to  save  his  life  for  a 
few  short  fleeting  years.  But  here  is  ever- 


lasting life,  eternal  life  ;  that  is  the  gift 
of  God,  and  the  Lord  God  says  you  shall 
have  it  when  you  call  on  Him.  "Seek 
ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found, 
and  call  ye  upon  Him  while  He  is  near." 

TWO    DUBLIN    BROTHERS. 

AVhen  we  were  in  Sheffield  a  few  weeks 
ago,  there  were  two  brothers  that  came 
from  Dublin  to  Sheffield,  and  they  came 
to  the  inquiry-room,  and  some  one  said 
to  them  as  they  were  talking,  "  What 
brought  you  here?  how  is  it  you  have 
come  from  Dublin  ?"  Then  the  men  said 
that  they  had  had  a  brother  converted  in 
a  meeting  while -we  were  there,  and  such  a 
great  change  had  come  over  him.  They 
found  that  he  possessed  something  that 
they  had  not  got,  and  they  had  come  to 
Sheffield  in  hopes  of  finding  what  their 
brother  had  found.  Do  you  think  these 
men  did  not  find  what  they  had  come  for.? 
I  never  knew  a  man  that  tried  but  what  he 
found  peace. 

AN  ANXIOUS  MOTHER. 

I  see  right  before  me  to-night  a  mother 
with  her  boy,  a  young  man  sitting  by  her  side. 
A  little  while  ago  the  mother  left  London 
and  went  to  Dundee,  because  her  heart 
was  set  upon  the  conversion  of  her  two 
boys.  I  remember  how  she  used  to  plead 
for  these  two  boys.  I  remember  talking 
with  one  of  them  one  night,  and  I  plead 
with  him  to  accept  Christ.  The  next 
morning  we  left  for  Glasgow,  and  they 
left  for  London  ;  and  when  I  came  up  to 
London  a  few  days  ago,  that  mother  came 
to  tell  me  that  boy  had  been  taken  away  by 
death.  Now,  you  know,  that  mother  took 
the  boy  off  to  Dundee  that  he  might  hear 
and  be  saved.  It  was  a  good  thing  to  see 
a  mother  burdened  for  the  salvation  of  her 
boy.  It  was  God  that  put  it  in  her  heart 
to  take  that  boy  off  to  that  distant  city,  that 
he  might  find  peace.  Mother,  if  you  have  a 
son  out  of  Christ,  let  your  prayers  be  going 
up  to  Christ  day  and  night.  Father,  let  us 
have  your  prayers  that  your  son  may  be 
converted.  Let  us  pray  together  and  be 
in  earnest  about  this  great  question  of  sal- 
vation. God  was  in  earnest  when  He  sent 
us  the  prophets,  and  we  killed  them.  Then 
He  sent  us  His  only  begotten  Son,  and  we 
murdered  Him.  And  after  Christ  went 
back  to  heaven  He  sent  down  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Oh,  my  friends,  God  is  in  earnest 
about  the  salvation  of  man's  soul ;  and  I 
would  to  God  that  London  might  wake  up, 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


79 


and  that  men  throughout  this  city  would 
be  in  earnest  about  the  salvation  of  their 
souls.  Is  the  Bible  a  myth,  is  the  Bible 
a  sham  ?  If  it  is,  why,  then,  away  with 
it !  But  if  it  is  true  that  man  is  lost,  and 
that  Christ  is  come  to  save  him,  then  let 
us  earnestly  seek  the  kingdom  of  God. 
"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be 
found."  That  is  the  text,  and  it  applies 
to  everyone  here.  These  little  children — 
I  am  glad  to  see  them  here  night  after 
night — may  they  seek  the  kingdom  of  God 
to-night.  Little  girl,  seek  the  kingdom  of 
God  to-night.  Young  man,  young  lady, 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God  to-night.  And 
you  who  are  advancing  in  the  evening  of 
life — your  natural  force  is  becoming  abated; 
your  eye  is  growing  dim — my  friend,  make 
haste  and  get  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Do  not  put  off  the  salvation  of  your  soul 
for  another  night;  but  let  this  be  the  night, 
let  this  be  the  hour  that  you  accept  of  the 
gift  of  God.  Make  up  your  mind  you  will 
not  leave  this  Hall  to-night  until  you  have 
sought  the  kingdom  of  God;  until  the 
great  question  of  eternity  is  settled. 

A  PREPARATION  FOR  JUDGMENT. 

Eighteen  years  ago,  in  America,  there 
was  a  wave  of  blessing  passed  over  the 
land.  A  great  many  people  thought  it 
was  all  excitement.  You  could  get  into 
the  train  at  New  York  and  go  clear  into 
the  western  prairie,  and  all  along  you  would 
see  the  churches  all  open  and  lit  up,  and 
crowds  of  worshipers.  The  whole  nation 
was  moved,  and  half  a  million  were  brought 
into  the  Church  of  God.  Little  did  we 
know  what  was  taking  place.  God  was 
preparing  that  nation  for  a  baptism  of 
blood.  After  a  few  years  the  terrible  civil 
war  broke  out.  It  was  God  calling  His 
children  in.  It  was  God  preparing  the 
nation  for  the  great  affliction  brought  upon 
us  for  our  sin.  I  have  noticed  very  often 
grace  precedes  judgment.  I  do  not  know 
what  is  going  to  take  place.  My  friends,  I  am 
one  of  those  men  who  believe  God  is  work- 
ing in  a  wonderful  way.  The  tidings  from 
every  city  is  this — the  people  are  praying. 
It  is  a  question  in  my  mind  if  there  was  ever 
so  much  prayer  going  up  to  God  as  at  the 
present.  Not  only  here,  but  all  round  the 
world,  we  have  God's  people  making  their 
hearts  burdened  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
And  is  it  not  God  working.?  Will  there 
ever  be  a  better  time  for  you  to  seek  the 
kingdom  of  God  than  the  present,  when 
there  is  such  a  great  awakening,  and  when 


there  is  such  a  spirit  of  expectation  ;  when 
the  Church  of  God  is  coming  up  as  one 
man,  and  the  spirit  of  unity  prevails  ? 
Think  of  the  praying  ones  here.  Do  you 
believe  there  were  ever  so  many  men  and 
women  praying  for  your  soul  as  there  are 
here  to-night  ?  Look  over  this  audience 
— what  are  these  Christians  doing  now  ? 
They  are  silently  praying  God.  I  can  see 
they  are  praying.  There  is  a  young  man 
with  his  mother  sitting  by  his  side.  That 
mother  is  pleading,  "  God  save  my  boy  to- 
night !"  May  it  go  down  deep  into  his  soul ! 
"  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  He  may  be 
found."  I  call  on  you  to  come  to  God  to- 
night. Can  He  be  found  to-night  ?  Let 
me  ask  you  that  question.  Do  you  be- 
lieve it  ? 

AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  MINISTERS. 

I  appeal  to  these  ministers  here  —  Do 
you  believe  that  God  can  be  found  here 
to-night  ?  I  ask  you  ministers  of  religion 
whether  you  believe  that  God  can  be 
found  here  to-night  ?  (The  ministers  on 
the  platform  loudly  answered,  "  Yes.") 
Do  you  believe  God  can  be  found 
here  to-night.?  (Replies  of  "Yes,"  from 
the  audience.)  Then,  if  it  is  true,  do 
not  trifle,  do  not  make  light.  Call 
upon  Him  while  He  is  here.  Is  He  here? 
We  have  very  good  reason  to  believe  that 
last  night  there  were  some  that  found 
Christ.  If  it  is  true  He  came  into  this  hall 
last  night  and  saved  some,  will  He  not  save 
you  to-night,  if  your  heart  is  set  upon  that 
one  thing,  "  I  must  be  saved .?"  Is  He  not 
able  and  willing,  and  anxious  to  save  you  .? 
And  now,  would  you  just  ask  Him  ?  Let 
there  be  a  cry  from  the  very  depths  of  your 
heart  to-night,  "  Lord,  God,  save  my  soul. 
Lord,  God,  save  me  just  now."  Call  upon 
Him  while  He  is  near.  If  He  is  near  won't 
you  call  upon  Him  ?  Don't  let  that  scoff- 
ing man  next  to  you  keep  you  out  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  There  is  a  scornful 
look  upon  the  face  of  that  man  next  to 
you  ;  perhaps  he  is  making  light  of  what  I 
am  saying.  Don't  mind  him,  don't  look  to 
him,  but  just  look  right  up  to  God,  and 
ask  Him  to  save  you.  Now,  every  true 
friend — and  you  all  have  friends — every 
true  friend,  if  you  could  get  their  advice 
to-night,  would  tell  you  to  be  saved  now. 
Ask  that  minister  sitting  next  to  you,  "  Had 
I  better  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  to- 
night.?" What  would  he  tell  you.?  "By 
all  means,  don't  put  it  off  another  minute," 
Ask  that  godly,  praying  mother  by  your 


8o 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


side,  "  Mother,  is  it  best  to  seek  the  king- 
dom of  God  to-night?"  Would  she  say 
put  it  off  one  week,  or  put  it  off  one  month  ? 
Do  you  think  that  mother  would  say  that  ? 
There  is  not  a  Christian  mother  in  this  hall 
who  would  say  it.  I  doubt  if  there  is  any 
unconverted  mother  either  here  whose  ad- 
vice would  be  to  put  off  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian. Ask  that  praying  sister  of  yours,  ask 
that  praying  brother,  ask  any  friend  you 
have  here — if  you  are  sitting  near  one — if 
it  is  not  the  very  best  thing  you  can  do. 
And  then  shout  up  to  heaven  and  ask  Him 
who  is  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
and  who  loves  you  more  than  your  father 
or  your  mother,  or  anyone  on  earth — who 
loves  you  so  much  that  He  gave  Himself 
for  you ;  ask  Him  what  He  will  have  you 
do,  and  hear  His  voice  rolling  down  from 
the  throne  of  God,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  king- 
dom of  God."  That  is  what  He  will  say. 
And  then  shout  down  to  the  infernal  re- 
gions, and  ask  those  down  there — you  may 
have  some  acquaintances  gone  there — and 
what  will  they  say .?  What  did  that  man 
say  we  hear  of  there  1  "  Send  someone  to 
my  father's  house,  for  I  have  five  brethren, 
that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest  they 
also  come  into  this  place."  Heaven,  earth, 
and  hell  unite  in  this  one  thing — "  Seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God."  Don't  put  it 
off.  Call  upon  Him  while  He  is  near.  And 
if  you  call  upon  Him  in  real  earnest  He 
will  hear  that  call. 

THE   PENITENT    THIEF. 

Look  at  the  thief  on  the  cross.  It  may 
have  been  the  thief  had  a  praying  mother, 
and  that  mother  may  have  taught  him  this 
55th  chapter  of  Isaiah.  That  mother  may 
have  taught  him  this  very  verse  ;  and  while 
on  the  cross  it  flashed  across  him,  and  he 
remembered  the  teaching  of  his  mother, 
and  said,  "This  is  truly  the  God  man." 
And  he  heard  Christ  make  that  wonderful 
prayer —  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do  ;"  and  then  the  thief 
called  upon  Him,  "  Lord,  remember  me 
when  Thou  comest  into  Thy  kingdom." 
And  no  sooner  did  that  prayer  fall  upon 
the  ears  of  the  Son  of  God,  than  He  an- 
swered it,  "  This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me 
in  paradise."  He  called,  and  the  Son  of 
God  answered  him.  Blind  Bartimeus 
when  the  Son  of  God  went  by  called  out, 
and  they  tried  to  hush  him,  but  the  Lord 
heard  his  call  and  prayer,  and  He  answer- 
ed his  prayer  and  gave  him  his  sight.     Oh, 


my  friends,  to-night  call  upon  Him,  aud 
He  will  have  mercy  upon  you,  and  open 
your  eyes  and  give  you  sight.  Look  at 
that  poor  leper.  He  cried,  "  Lord,  if  Thou 
wilt  Thou  canst  make  me  clean."  And  the 
Lord  answered  him,  "I  will;  be  thou 
clean."  Don't  forget,  my  friends,  that  there 
is  a  time  coming  when  your  calling  and 
your  prayer  will  not  be  answered ;  when 
you  will  call  to  the  mountains  and  hills  to 
cover  you  from  the  wrath  of  God.  We  are 
hasting  on  to  the  time  when  London  and 
other  places  will  pray ;  when  scoffers  will 
pray  and  call  on  the  mountains  and  rocks 
to  cover  them  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb. 
Their  prayer  has  already  been  put  in  print 
for  that  terrible  day  of  the  Son  of  man 
which  is  coming.  What  does  God  say .? 
"  Seek  the  Lord  while  He  may  be  found." 
My  friends,  seek  Him  to-night.  He  can 
be  found  here  to-night. 

TOO    LATE. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  those  who  would 
not  pray  when  the  ark  was  building,  prayed 
when  the  flood  came,  but  their  prayer  was 
not  answered.  I  have  no  doubt  that  when 
Lot  went  out  of  Sodom,  Sodom  cried  to 
God,  but  it  was  too  late,  and  God's  judg- 
ment swept  them  from  the  earth.  My 
friends,  it  is  not  too  late  now,  but  it  may 
be  at  twelve  o'clock  to-night.  I  cannot 
find  any  place  in  this  Bible  where  I  can 
say  you  can  call  to-morrow.  I  am  not  justi- 
fied in  saying  that.  There  it  is  said,  "  Be- 
hold, now  is  the  accepted  time,  novv  is  the 
day  of  salvation."  Those  men  of  Jerusa- 
lem, what  a  golden  opportunity  they  had, 
with  Christ  in  their  midst.  We  see  the 
Son  of  God  weeping  over  Jerusalem,  His 
heart  bursting  with  grief  for  the  city  as  He 
cried,  "  Oh  !  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem  !  thou 
that  stonest  the  prophets,  how  often  would 
I  have  gathered  thee  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
brood,  but  ye  would  not."  He  could  look 
down  forty  years,  and  see  Titus  coming 
with  his  army,  and  besieging  that  city. 
Eleven  hundred  thousand  people  perished 
in  that  city.  They  called  upon  God  then, 
but  it  was  too  late.  To-night  it  is  a  day 
of  mercy.  It  may  be  I  am  talking  to  some- 
one to-night  whose  days  of  grace  may  be 
short,  to  someone  who  may  be  snatched 
away  very  soon.  There  may  be  someone 
here  to-night  who  will  never  hear  another 
Gospel  sermon ;  someone  who  may  be 
hearing  the  last  call.  My  friends,  be  wise 
to-night.     Make  up  your  mind  that  this 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


8i 


shall  be  the  night,  and  this  the  very  hour 
that  you  will  seek  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  seek  it  with  all  your  heart. 

AN    INCIDENT    AT     NIAGARA. 

A  few  years  ago,  two  young  men  were 
seen  on  the  Niagara  river  in  a  little  canoe. 
They  were  drinking  champagne,  and  hav- 
ing what  they  called  a  jolly  time.  Some 
of  the  men  on  the  shore  saw  their  danger, 
as  they  were  hastening  on  towards  the  cat- 
aract, and  they  lifted  up  their  voices  and 
warned  them  ;  but  the  young  men  only 
mocked  them,  as  the  current  swept  them 
along.  They  were  not  rowing,  they  were 
doing  nothing.  Some  people  think  if  they 
are  doing  nothing  they  will  be  saved.  My 
friends,  if  you  just  neglect  salvation  you 
will  be  lost.  You  are  in  the  current  of 
time  which  is  sweeping  you  on  towards 
eternity.  Well,  these  young  men  were  not 
rowing,  but  the  current  was  taking  them 
on.  It  wasn't  long  before  someone  else 
saw  them  and  lifted  up  their  voices ;  but 
they  only  made  light  of  them.  And  the 
same  is  happening  here  to-night.  The  cur- 
rent bore  them  on  towards  death.  At  last 
a  third  party  saw  them  further  on,  and  lift- 
ed up  their  voices,  and  told  them  the  cat- 
aract was  not  far  away.  But  the  men  made 
a  mock  of  them,  and  made  light  of  what 
they  said ;  and  the  current  still  swept  them 
on.  At  last  one  of  them  said,  "  Hark  !  I 
hear  the  rapid."  They  seized  the  oars  and 
pulled  against  the  current ;  but  it  was  too 
late.  They  had  got  too  far  down,  and  in  a 
little  time  two  men  were  seen  going  down 
the  fall,  and  they  leaped  over  into  the  jaws 
of  death.  How  many  in  London  are  doing 
the  same  thing }  You  are  warned  again 
to-night.  My  warning  to-night  is  that  you 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God.  Make  up  your 
mind  not  to  leave  this  hall  until  you  have 
accepted  the  gift  of  God,  which  is  eternal 
life.  God  wants  to  bestow  it  upon  every 
one.  Do  not  neglect  the  appeal  of  to- 
night ;  but  "  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die, 
oh,  house  of  Israel .-'"  Oh  !  that  all  of  you 
may  turn  unto  the  Lord  and  live. 

A  STORY  FROM  THE  FARM. 

A  few  years  ago,  before  I  had  left  the 
farm,  I  was  talking  one  day  to  a  man  who 
was  Avorking  there,  and  who  was  weeping. 
I  said  to  him,  "  What  is  the  trouble  .''"  And 
he  told  me  a  very  strange  story.  When  he 
started  out  in  life,  he  left  his  native  vil- 
lage, and  went  to  another   town   to   find 


something  to  do,  and  he  said  he  was  unsuc- 
cessful. The  first  Sabbath  he  went  to  a 
little  church,  and  there  the  minister  preach- 
ed from  this  text :  "  Seek  ye  first  the  king- 
dom of  God  ;"  and  he  said  that  he  thought 
the  text  and  the  sermon  were  for  himself. 
The  sermon  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
him,  and  he  could  not  forget  it  for  some 
days.  But  he  said  he  did  not  want  to  be- 
come a  Christian  then.  He  wanted  to  get 
rich,  and  when  he  was  settled  in  life  he 
Avould  seek  the  kingdom  of  God.  He 
went  on,  and  the  next  Sabbath  he  was  in 
another  village,  and  he  went  to  church 
again,  and  he  made  a  point  of  going  to 
church  every  Sunday  morning.  It  was  not 
long  before  he  heard  another  minister 
preach  from  the  same  text,  "  Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God."  He  thought  surely 
some  one  must  have  been  speaking  to  the 
minister  about  him.  For  the  minister  just 
pictured  him  out.  But  he  said  he  would 
not  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  then  ;  but 
when  he  got  settled  in  life,  and  had  con- 
trol of  his  time,  and  was  his  own  master, 
he  would  then  seek  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Some  time  after  he  was  at  another  village, 
and  he  went  to  church  again,  and  he  had 
not  been  going  a  great  while  when  he 
heard  the  third  minister  preach  from  the 
same  text :  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  things 
else  shall  be  added."  He  said  it  went  right 
down  into  his  soul ;  but  he  calmly  and  delib- 
erately made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
not  become  a  Christian,  that  he  would  not 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God,  until  he  had  got 
settled  in  life,  and  owned  his  farm,  and 
then  he  would  attend  to  the  salvation  of 
his  soul.  Many  a  man  thinks  he  can't 
make  money  if  he  becomes  a  Christian. 
How  the  devil  deceives  you  I  This  man 
said,  "  Now  I  am  what  the  world  calls  rich. 
I  go  to  church  every  Sunday,  but  I  have 
never  heard  a  sermon  from  that  day  to  this 
which  has  ever  made  any  impression  upon 
my  heart.  My  heart  is  as  hard  as  a  stone." 
As  he  said  that  tears  trickled  down  his 
cheeks.  I  was  a  young  man  at  that  time 
and  did  not  know  what  it  meant. 

IN  THE  ASYLUM. 

When  I  was  converted  the  first  man  that 
came  to  my  mind  was  this  man,  and  I 
thought  when  I  should  go  back  home  I 
would  see  him,  and  tell  him,  and  preach 
Christ  to  him.  When  I  went  back  home 
I  said  to  my  widowed  mother,  naming  this 
man,  "  Is  he  still  living  in  the  same  place.''" 


82 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


My  mother  said,  "  Didn't  I  write  to  you 
about  him?"  I  said,  "No,  you  didn't; 
what  about  him  ?"  "  He  is  gone  mad,  and 
has  been  taken  away  to  the  insane  asylum, 
and  everyone  that  goes  up  to  see  him  he 
points  his  fmj;er  at  and  says,  *  Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God.'  I  thought  I  should 
like  to  see  him,  but  I  found  he  was  so  far  gone 
that  it  would  do  no  good,  and  therefore  I 
didn't  go.  The  next  time  I  returned  home 
my  mother  told  me  he  was  at  home  idiotic. 
I  went  to  the  house  to  see  him,  and  there 
was  that  vacant  look  in  his  eye  when  I 
went  in.  I  said,  "  Do  you  know  me?"  He 
pointed  his  finger  at  me,  and  said,  "  Young 
man,  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God." 
God  had  driven  that  text  into  his  mind, 
but  his  reason  was  gone.  The  next 
time  I  returned  home  he  was  gone ; 
and  three  jears  ago  last  autumn,  when 
I  visited  my  father's  grave,  I  noticed 
a  new  grave  -  stone  had  been  put  up.  I 
stopped  to  read  it,  and  found  it  was  my 
friend's.  The  autumn  wind  was  making  a 
mournful  noise,  and  I  seemed  to  hear  the 
wind  whispering  the  text,  "  Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God."  Now,  my  friend, 
will  you  seek  the  face  of  God  ?  Will  you 
seek  the  kingdom  of  God  to-night,  with  all 
your  heart  ?  Seek  the  Lord  while  He  may 
be  found.  You  have  heard  these  witnesses 
say  that  He  may  be  found  here  to  -  night. 
Is  not  it  the  very  worst  thing  you  can  do 
to  go  out  of  this  hall  without  obtaining 
salvation,  without  being  saved  ?  Young 
man,  make  up  your  mind  this  night  that 
you  will  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  now. 
Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time;  behold, 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation.  Christ  is  in- 
viting you  to  come —  "  Come  unto  Me  all 
ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  Oh,  may  we  all  find 
rest  in  Christ  to-night. 


V. 


THE    CALL    TO     SELF-EXAMINA- 
TION. 

"  Where  art  thou  ? " — Genesis  iii.  g. 

This  was  the  first  question  put  to  man 
after  his  fall.  As  I  said  the  other  night, 
Adam  would  have  gone  up  and  down  Eden 
crying  out,  "  My  God,  my  God,  where  art 
Thou  ?  "  but  God  took  the  place  of  the 
seeker.  God  came  down,  and  indeed  you 
hear  His  voice  ringing  and  echoing  through 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  "  Adam,  where  art 


thou  ?  "  It  was  the  voice  of  grace,  it  was 
the  voice  of  love,  it  was  a  loving  God 
seeking  after  His  lost  one-  *'  Adam,  where 
art  thou  ? '"'  Six  thousand  years  have  rolled 
away,  and  yet  this  text  has  come  rolling  on 
down  the  ages.  I  doubt  whether  there  has 
been  any  one  of  Adam's  sons  who  has  not 
heard  this  text  at  some  period  or  other  of 
his  life — sometimes  in  the  midnight  hour 
stealing  over — "  Where  am  I  ?  Who  am 
I  ?  Where  am  I  going  ?  and  what  is  going 
to  be  the  end  of  this  ?  "  I  think  it  is  well 
for  a  man  to  pause  and  ask  himself  that 
question  ;  and  will  you  do  it  to-night,  my 
friends  ?  I  do  not  ask  you  where  you  are 
in  the  sight  of  your  neighbors ;  I  do  not 
ask  you  where  you  are  in  the  sight  of  your 
friends  ;  I  do  not  ask  you  where  you  are  in 
the  sight  of  the  community  in  which  you 
live.  It  is  of  very  little  account  where  we 
are  in  the  sight  of  one  another,  it  is  of 
very  little  account  what  men  think  of  us ; 
but  it  is  of  vast  importance  what  God 
thinks  of  us — it  is  of  vast  importance  to 
know  where  men  are  in  the  sight  of  God ; 
and  that  is  the  question  to-night.  It  was 
the  first  question  put  to  man  after  his  fall. 
It  was  a  very  small  audience  that  God  had, 
Adam  and  his  wife,  and  God  was  the 
preacher.  Adam,  like  a  great  many  of  us, 
in  fact,  like  the  whole  of  the  human  race, 
thought  he  could  hide  from  God.  "  After 
he  had  fallen  he  went  away  and  hid." 
Many  and  many  a  one  here  to-night  in  this 
hall  undoubtedly  has  the  same  thought. 
He  thinks  that  his  life  is  hid ;  he  thinks 
that  God  does  not  know  anything  about 
him,  that  God's  eye  is  not  upon  him.  But, 
my  friends,  God  knows  all  about  him ; 
God  knows  our  lives  a  great  deal  better 
than  we  do ;  God's  eye  is  bent  upon  us 
from  our  earliest  childhood  up.  By  day 
and  by  night  God's  eye  is  bent  upon  every 
one  in  this  hall.  And  now,  my  friends,  I 
would  just  ask  you  to  ask  yourselves, 
"  Where  am  I  ?  "  Ah  !  "  Where  art  thou  ?  " 
I  wish  I  could  get  this  audience  just  to 
stop  five  minutes  and  think.  That  is  just 
what  the  devil  does  not  want  you  to  do. 
Think,  my  friends,  think. 

I  want  to  divide  this  audience  into  three 
classes,  and  I  think  it  is  a  proper  division. 
There  are  just  three  classes  here  to-night. 
The  first  class  are  those  that  are  Christians 
or  professing  Christians ;  and  the  second 
class  those  that  have  wandered  from  God, 
and  are  what  the  Bible  calls  backsliders ; 
and  the  last  class  are  those  that  never  have 
been  saved. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


83 


THE   CURSE   OF   CHRISTIANITY. 

I.  Now,  would  the  Christians  here  to- 
night in  this  hall,  each  one,  just  take  that 
question  home.  I  do  not  mean  t6  stand 
here  and  say  that  I  am  on  a  higher  plat- 
form than  the  rest  of  you,  or  that  I  do  not 
mean  to  apply  this  question  to  myself;  but 
it  is  good  for  Christians  to  stop  sometimes 
and  ask,  "  Where  am  I  in  the  sight  of 
God  ?  What  am  I  doing  ?  Is  my  life  here 
as  it  should  be  in  the  community  I  live  in  ? 
Am  I  a  light  in  this  dark  world  ?  "  Now 
Christ  says,  "  Ye  are  My  witnesses." 
Christ  was  the  Light  of  the  world,  and  the 
world  would  not  have  the  true  Light ;  the 
world  rose  up  and  put  out  the  Light,  and 
now  Christ  says,  "  I  leave  you  down  here 
to  testify  here  of  Me ;  I  leave  you  down 
here  as  My  witnesses."  That  is  what  the 
apostle  meant  when  he  said  that  Christians 
are  to  be  living  epistles,  known  and  read 
of  all  men.  I  will  venture  to  say  that  if  I 
just  ask  those  who  profess  to  be  Christians 
— those  that  really  are  Christians — to  rise 
in  this  hall,  and  by  that  act  say,  "  I  am  on 
the  Lord's  side,"  there  would  not  be  many 
of  you  who  would  be  with  me ;  there 
would  be  many  of  you  who  would  say,  "  I 
do  not  think  it  is  right  to  have  it  put  in 
that  way."  But  Paul  tells  us  to  be  ready 
to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope  that  is  within 
us.  I  do  not  have  much  hope  of  there 
being  a  reformation  until  we  get  a  division 
between  the  Church  and  the  world.  If  a 
man  is  for  God,  let  him  say  so.  If  a  man 
is  for  God,  let  him  come  out  and  be  on 
God's  side ;  and  if  he  is  for  the  world,  let 
him  be  in  the  world.  This  serving  God 
and  the  world  at  the  same  time — this  being 
on  both  sides  at  the  same  time — is  just  the 
curse  of  Christianity  at  the  present  time. 
It  retards  the  progress  of  Christianity  more 
than  any  other  thing.  "  If  any  man  will 
be  My  disciple,  let  him  take  up  his  cross 
and  come  after  Me."  And  in  another 
place  He  says,  "  Let  him  take  up  his  cross 
daily  and  follow  Me."  Now,  what  does 
London  want } 

THE    QUESTION    OF    A   DUBLIN   MAN. 

I  see  a  man  on  this  platform — I  do  not 
know  if  he  remembers  it — but  when  I  was 
here  in  1867,  there  was  a  merchant  who 
came  over  from  Dublin,  and  was  talking 
with  this  business  man  in  London ;  and  as 
I  happened  to  look  in,  this  business  man 
in  London  introduced  me  to  the  man  from 
Dublin.      The   Dublin   man   said   to   the 


London  man,  alluding  to  me,  "  Is  this 
young  man  all  CO.?"  Said  the  London 
man,  "  What  do  you  mean  by  O  0}  " 
Said  the  Dublin  man,  "  Is  he  Out-and-Out 
for  Christ  ?  "  I  tell  you  it  burned  down 
into  my  soul.  This  friend  said  I  was  a 
little  ashamed,  but  I  thought  I  was  not, 
though  I  was  a  young  man  then.  It  means 
a  good  deal  to  be  O  O  for  Christ,  but  that 
is  what  all  Christians  ought  to  be,  and 
their  influence  would  be  felt  in  this 
city  very  soon,  if  men  who  are  on  the 
Lord's  side  would  come  out  and  take  their 
stand,  and  lift  up  their  voices  in  season  and 
out  of  season. 

Professed  child  of  God,  where  art  thou  ? 
Now  take  it  home  with  you ;  take  it  to 
heart  to-night ;  ask,  Where  am  I .?  There 
are  a  great  many  in  the  Church  who  make 
one  profession,  and  that  is  about  all  you 
hear  of  them ;  and  when  they  come  to  die 
you  have  to  go  and  hunt  up  some  musty 
old  church  records  to  know  whether  they 
were  Christians  or  not.  God  won't  do 
that.  I  have  an  idea  that  when  Daniel 
died,  all  the  men  in  Babylon  knew  whom 
he  served.  There  was  no  need  for  them  to 
hunt  up  old  books.  His  life  told  his  story. 
What  we  want  is  men  with  a  little  courage 
to  stand  up  for  Christ.  When  Christianity 
wakes  up,  and  every  child  that  belongs  to 
the  Lord  is  willing  to  sp^ak  for  Him,  is 
willing  to  work  for  Him,  and,  if  need  be, 
willing  to  die  for  Him,  then  Christianity 
will  advance,  and  we  shall  see  the  work  of 
the  Lord  prosper.  There  is  one  thing 
which  I  fear  more  than  anything  else,  and 
that  is  the  dead,  cold  formalism  of  the 
Church  of  God.  Talk  about  the  t'sms ! 
Put  them  all  together,  and  I  do  not  fear 
them  so  much  as  dead,  cold  formalism. 
Talk  about  the  false  isms  !  There  is  none 
so  dangerous  as  this  dead,  cold  formalism 
which  has  come  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
Church.  There  are  so  many  of  us  just 
sleeping  and  slumbering  while  souls  all 
around  are  perishing. 

AN  AMERICAN  ANECDOTE. 

There  was  a  little  story  going  the  round 
of  the  American  press  that  made  a  great 
impression  upon  me  as  a  father.  A  father 
took  his  little  child  out  into  the  field  one 
Sabbath,  and  he  lay  down  under  a  beauti- 
ful shady  tree,  it  being  a  hot  day.  The  lit- 
tle child  ran  about  gathering  wild  flowers 
and  little  blades  of  grass,  and  coming  to 
its  father  and  saying,  "Pretty!  pretty!" 
At  last  the  father  fell  asleep,  and  while  he 


84 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


was  sleeping,  the  little  child  wandered 
away.  When  he  awoke,  his  first  thought 
was,  "  Where  is  my  child  ?"  He  looked 
all  around,  but  he  could  not  see  him.  He 
shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and  all  he 
heard  was  the  echo  of  his  own  voice. 
Running  to  a  little  hill,  he  looked  around 
and  shouted  again,  but  all  he  heard  was 
the  echo  of  his  own  voice.  No  re- 
sponse !  Then  going  to  a  precipice  at 
some  distance,  he  looked  down,  and  there 
upon  the  rocks  and  briers,  he  saw  the 
mangled  form  of  his  loved  child.  He 
rushed  to  the  spot,  took  up  the  lifeless 
corpse  and  hugged  it  to  his  bosom,  and  ac- 
cused himself  of  being  the  murderer  of  his 
own  child.  While  he  was  sleeping  his 
child  had  wandered  over  the  precipice.  I 
thought  as  I  heard  that,  what  a  picture  of 
the  Church  of  God  !  How  many  fathers 
and  mothers,  how  many  Christian  men  are 
sleeping  now  while  their  children  wander 
over  the  terrible  precipice  a  thousand  times 
worse  than  that  precipice,  right  into  the  bot- 
tomless pit  of  hell.  Father,  where  is  your 
boy  to-night  .^  It  maybe  just  out  here  in 
some  public-house ;  it  may  be  reeling 
through  the  streets  of  London,  drunk ;  it 
may  be  pressing  on  down  to  a  drunkard's 
grave.  How  many  fathers  and  mothers  are 
there  in  London — yes,  praying  Christians 
too — whose  children  are  wandering  away 
while  they  are  slumbering  and  sleeping  1 
Is  it  not  time  that  the  Church  of  God 
should  wake  up  and  come  to  the  help  of 
the  Lord  as  one  man,  and  strive  to  beat 
back  those  dark  waves  of  death  that  roll 
through  our  streets,  bearing  upon  their 
bosom  the  noblest  young  men  we  have  .'' 
Oh,  my  God,  wake  up  the  Church  !  And 
let  us  trim  our  lights  and  go  forth  and 
work  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

THE  GOSPEL  TAKING    A  FRESH  START. 

My  friends,  I  believe  there  has  never 
been  a  time,  in  our  day  at  least,  when 
work  for  Christ  was  more  needed  than  at 
present.  I  do  not  believe  there  ever  was  in 
your  day  and  mine  a  time  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  was  more  poured  out  upon  the  world. 
There  is  not  a  part  of  Christendom  where 
the  work  is  not  being  carried  on,  and  it 
looks  very  much  as  if  the  glad  tidings 
were  just  going  to  take,  as  it  were,  a 
fresh  start  and  go  round  the  globe.  It  is 
time  for  you.  Christians  here  in  London, 
to  rise  as  one  man.  You  live  at  the  very 
centre  of  the  world,  and  if  London  is 
moved,  the  world  is  moved.  May  the  Lon- 


don Christians  come  up  as  one  man. 
Thank  God  you  are  here  to-night,  and  may 
God  fire  up  every  heart.  It  is  not  only 
brains  that  are  wanted,  but  the  heart  on 
fire,  and  when  the  heart  is  on  fire  and  filled 
with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  with  the  love  of 
God,  then  God  can  use  us  and  work 
through  us. 

A    SCOTTISH   BACKSLTDER. 

2.  But  the  other  class — backsliders — 
where  are  you  .?  I  can  just  imagine  over 
there  a  young  man  who  came  up  to  Lon- 
don five  years  ago.  Perhaps  he  came  from 
Scotland.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Church 
there ;  he  was  a  teacher  in  a  Sabbath- 
school  ;  but  when  he  came  to  London  he 
found  society  a  little  different  from  what  it 
was  in  Scotland.  He  found  himself 
among  strangers,  and  he  thought  he  would 
not  just  take  a  class  at  once  in  the  Sab- 
bath-school. So  he  gave  up  teaching  in 
the  Sabbath-school ;  he  gave  up  all  work 
for  Christ.  It  may  be  a  few  months  ago 
he  was  invited  to  go  to  a  theatre ;  and  al- 
though your  conscience  said  you  ought  not 
to  go,  you  went.  And  then  you  were  in- 
vited into  a  public-house.  It  may  be  you 
got  to  drinking;  it  may  be  you  are  under 
the  influence  of  liquor  here  to-night. 
Young  man,  "  where  art  thou  .'*"  Come 
now,  backslider,  tell  me,  are  you  happy.? 
Have  you  had  a  happy  hour  since  you 
left  Christ .?  Does  the  world  satisfy  you  } 
Do  those  husks  that  you  have  got 
far  off  in  a  foreign  country  satisfy  you  .'' 
I  have  traveled  much  for  a  young  man, 
but  I  never  found  a  happy  backslider 
in  my  life.  I  never  saw  a  man  that  was 
really  born  of  God^  and  bom  again,  and 
born  of  the  Spirit,  that  ever  could  find  the 
world  satisfy  him  afterward.  I  pity  the 
backslider,  but  I  want  to  tell  you  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  pities  you  a  good  deal  more 
than  any  one  else  can  pity  you.  He  knows 
how  bitter  your  life  is,  He  knows  how 
dark  your  life  is,  and  He  wants  you  to 
come  home.  Oh,  backslider,  come  home 
to-night.  I  have  come  with  a  loving  mes- 
sage from  your  Father.  He  will  receive 
you  with  joy  and  gladness,  and  He  will  say 
as  of  him  mentioned  in  Luke  xv.,  "  Bring 
out  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  upon  him,  kill 
the  fatted  calf,  put  a  ring  on  his  hands  and 
shoes  on  his  feet,  and  let  us  rejoice  and  be 
glad,  for  the  wanderer  is  come  home,  the 
dead  is  alive  again."  Oh,  prodigal,  come 
home  tonight.  Backslider,  while  I  am 
speaking,  say  down  in  the  depths  of  your 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


'85 


heart,  "  I  will  come  back  to-night."  Say  as 
the  prodigal  of  old  did,  "  I  will  arise  and  go 
to  my  Father,"  and  He  will  reteive  you.  I 
never  heard  of  a  backslider  coming  home 
but  God  received  him.  I  never  heard  of  a 
prodigal  with  his  face  toward  home  but 
God  was  ready  to  receive  him.  Did  you 
ever  read  of  such?  Never.  I  defy  any 
man  to  say  he  ever  knew  a  really  honest 
backslider  want  to  get  home  but  God  was 
willing  to  take  him  in.  And  He  takes  you 
back  just  as  you  are.  He  will  restore  His 
love  unto  your  heart  to-night  if  you  will 
only  come. 

A  CHICAGO  BOY  AND  THE  GAMBLERS. 

A  good  many  years  ago,  before  Chicago 
had  become  a  large  city,  it  was  a  grain 
market.  There  were  no  railways  running 
there  then,  and  the  grain  used  to  be  shipped 
on  the  lake.  There  was  a  man  living  out 
in  the  Western  prairies,  a  good  many  miles 
from  Chicago,  a  farmer  and  a  minister  (that 
was  a  very  common  thing  in  those  early 
days  out  in  the  West),  and  he  sent  his  only 
son  into  Chicago  with  a  load  of  grain.  He 
waited  and  waited  for  his  boy  to  return, 
but  he  did  not  come  home.  At  last  the 
father  could  wait  no  longer,  so  he  saddled 
his  horse  and  went  into  Chicago.  He  went 
round  to  the  places  where  he  had  sent  his 
boy  to  sell  grain,  and  he  found  that  he  had 
sold  it.  Then  he  feared  that  some  one  had 
murdered  him,  and  he  got  detectives  on  his 
track.  They  tracked  him  into  a  gambling 
den,  where  he  had  gambled  away  the  whole 
of  his  money.  After  he  had  done  that  the 
men  said,  "  Sell  your  horses  and  machine 
and  then  you  can  get  all  the  money  back 
again  and  go  home  to  your  father,  and 
no  one  will  know  anything  at  all  about  it." 
That  is  the  way  the  devil  leads  men  on. 
He  sold  his  horses  and  machine,  and 
gambled  that  money  away  too.  Like  the 
man  who  was  going  to  Jericho,  they  stripped 
him,  and  then  they  cared  no  more  about 
ftim.  What  could  he  do  }  He  was  ashamed 
to  go  home  to  meet  his  father,  and  he  fled. 
The  father  knew  what  it  all  meant.  He 
knew  the  boy  was  ashamed  to  come  home. 
He  was  grieved  to  think  that  the  boy  should 
have  such  feelings  towards  him.  That  is 
just  exactly  like  the  sinner.  He  thinks  be- 
cause he  has  sinned  God  will  have  nothing 
to  do  with  him.  My  friend,  if  you  have 
sinned,  come  and  ask  God  to  forgive  you, 
and  He  will  forgive  you.  What  did  that 
fathor  do  ?  Did  he  say,  "  Let  the  boy  go .?  " 
No;  he  went  after  him.     He  arranged  his 


business  and  started  after  the  boy.  And  I 
want  to  say  to  you  that  from  the  time  when 
Adam  fell  to  the  present  time  God  has  been 
seeking  after  His  children.  That  man 
went  from  town  to  town.  When  he  got  into 
the  pulpit  to  preach,  when  he  had  finished 
his  sermon  he  told  the  story  of  how  he  had 
lost  his  boy,  and  described  him,  and  he 
asked  any  of  the  audience  who  might  ever 
meet  with  him  to  write  and  let  him  know. 
At  last  he  found  that  he  had  gone  to  Cali- 
fornia, thousands  of  miles  away.  Did  that 
father  say,  "Let  him  go".?  No,  off  he 
went  to  the  Pacific  coast,  seeking  the  boy. 
He  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  he  adver- 
tised in  the  paper  that  he  would  preach  at 
such  a  church  on  such  a  day.  When  he 
had  preached  he  told  his  story,  in  hopes 
that  the  boy  might  have  seen  the  advertise- 
ment and  come  to  the  church.  When  he 
had  done,  away  under  the  gallery  there  was 
a  young  man  who  waited  until  the  audi- 
ence had  gone  out ;  then  he  came  towards 
the  pulpit.  The  father  looked,  and  saw  it 
was  that  boy,  and  he  ran  to  him,  and  pressed 
him  to  his  bosom.  The  boy  wanted  to  con- 
fess what  he  had  done,  but  not  a  word 
would  the  father  hear.  He  forgave  him 
freely,  and  took  him  to  his  home.  My 
friends,  you  have  been  enticed  away  by  the 
devil ;  now,  God  is  inviting  you  to  come 
home  to-night.  Don't  go  out  of  this  hall 
until  you  have  returned  to  your  Father's 
house.  Come  home,  oh,  backslider.  Oh, 
wanderer,  return  to-night. 

ALL  SEEKERS  FINDERS. 

3.  The  last  class  I  want  to  speak  to  for 
a  few  minutes  are  those  that  have  no  God, 
no  hope,  no  Christ,  no  peace,  no  joy.  I 
want  to  tell  you  to-night  how  you  can  be 
saved  if  you  will.  If  you  really  want  to 
pass  from  death  to  life,  if  you  want  to 
become  an  heir  of  eternal  life,  if  you 
want  to  become  a  child  of  God,  make  up 
your  mind  this  night  that  you  will  seek  the 
Kingdom  of  God;  I  tell  you  upon  the 
authority  of  this  Word  that  if  you  seek  the 
Kingdom  of  God  you  will  find  it.  No  man 
ever  sought  Christ  with  a  heart  to  find 
Him  who  did  not  find  Him.  Now  stop 
a  moment.  Let  us  be  still  just  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  for  if  there  is  any  time  in  a  man's 
life  when  he  wants  to  think,  it  is  on  an 
occasion  like  this.  Now,  friends,  you  that 
are  not  Christians,  just  ask  yourselves 
where  you  are.  Ask,  "  Where  am  I }  " 
Here  you  are,  surrounded  by  a  praying 
circle.     Young  man,  right  by  your  side,  it 


86 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


may  be,  is  your  father,  and  at  this  very 
minute  he  is  lifting  his  prayers  to  God  for 
you.  I  have  received  numbers  of  letters 
from  mothers,  stating  that  their  young  men 
would  be  here  to-night,  and  they  are  pray- 
ing for  you.  Young  man,  will  you  not 
yield  to  that  praying  mother.?  Will  you 
not  go  home  to-night  and  make  her  heart 
glad  by  telling  her  that  you  have  given 
yourself  to  Jesus,  that  her  God  is  your 
God  .?  While  the  minister  is  offering  sal- 
vation, there  are  men  praying  for  your  sal- 
vation. Just  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.  Make 
up  your  mind  that  you  will  not  go  away 
until  the  great  question  is  settled.  I  never 
knew  a  man  make  up  his  mind  to  have  the 
question  settled,  but  it  was  settled  soon. 
This  last  year  there  has  been  a  solemn 
feeling  stealing  over  me.  I  am  what  they 
call  in  the  middle  of  life,  in  the  prime  of 
life.  I  look  upon  life  as  a  man  going  up  a 
hill,  and  then  down  again.  I  have  got  to 
the  top  of  the  hill,  if  I  should  live  the  full 
term  of  life — three-score  years  and  ten,  and 
am  just  on  the  other  side.  I  am  speaking 
to  many  here  who  are  also  on  the  top  of 
the  hill,  and  I  ask  you,  if  you  are  not 
Christians,  just  to  pause  a  few  minutes,  and 
ask  yourselves  where  you  are.  Let  us  look 
back  on  the  hill  that  we  have  been  climb- 
ing. What  do  you  see  1  Yonder  a  grave- 
stone ;  it  marks  the  grave  of  a  praying 
mother.  Did  you  not  promise  her  when 
she  was  dying  that  you  would  meet  her  in 
heaven  }  Am  I  not  speaking  to  some  here 
to-night  who  made  that  solemn  promise .? 
Young  man,  have  you  kept  it .'  Look  a 
little  further  up  the  hill.  There  is  a  grave- 
stone that  marks  the  grave  of  a  little  child 
— it  may  have  been  a  little  lovely  girl — 
perhaps  her  name  was  Mary ;  or  it  may 
have  been  a  boy,  Charlie  ;  and  when  that 
child  was  taken  from  you,  did  you  not  prom- 
ise God,  and  did  not  you  promise  the 
child,  that  you  would  meet  it  in  heaven .'' 
Is  the  promise  kept  1  Think  !  Are  you 
still  fighting  against  God .''  Are  you  still 
hardening  your  hearts }  I  would  to  God 
that  you  would  to-night  settle  this  ques- 
tion. Now,  look  down  the  hill.  What  do 
you  see .-'  Yonder  there  is  a  grave :  we 
cannot  tell  how  many  days,  or  years,  or 
weeks  it  is  away ;  we  are  hastening  towards 
that  grave.  It  may  be  the  coffin  is  already 
made  that  this  body  shall  be  laid  in  ;  it 
may  be  that  the  shroud  is  already  waiting. 
My  friend,  is  it  not  the  height  of  madness 
to  put  off  salvation  so  long  '  Undoubtedly 
I  am  speaking  to  some  who  will  be  in  eter- 


nity a  week  from  now.  In  a  large  audi- 
ence like  this,  during  the  next  week  death 
will  surely  come  and  snatch  some  away  ; 
it  may  be  the  speaker,  or  it  may  be  some 
one  who  is  listeaing.  Why  put  off  the 
question  another  day .''  Why  say  to  the 
Lord  Jesus,  again  to-night,  "  Go  Thy  way 
this  time,  and  when  I  have  a  more  conven- 
ient season  I  will  call  for  Thee  V  Why 
not  let  Him  come  in  to-night .''  Why  not 
open  your  heart,  and  say,  "  King  of  Glory, 
come  in.?"     He  will  receive  you. 

THREE   STEPS   TO   PERDITION. 

You  know  there  are  three  steps  to  the 
lost  world  ;  let  me  give  you  their  names. 
The  first  is  Neglect.  All  a  man  has  to  do 
is  to  neglect  salvation,  and  that  will  take 
him  to  the  lost  world.  Some  people  say, 
"  What  have  I  done .''"  Why,  if  you  mere- 
ly neglect  salvation  you  will  be  lost.  I  am 
on  a  swift  river  and  lying  in  the  bottom  of 
my  little  boat  ;  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  fold 
my  arms,  and  the  current  will  carry  me  out 
to  sea.  So  all  that  a  man  has  to  do  is  to 
fold  his  arms  in  the  current  of  life,  and  he 
will  drift  on  and  be  lost.  The  second  step 
is  Refusal.  There  are  many  who  have  got 
on  the  first  step,  neglect.  If  I  met  you  at 
the  door  and  pressed  this  question  on  you, 
you  would  say,  "  Not  to-night,  Mr.  Moody, 
not  to-night."  But  there  are  others  of  you 
who,  if  I  said,  "  I  want  you  to  press  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  would  politely  re- 
fuse : — "  I  will  not  become  a  Christian  to- 
night; I  know  I  ought,  but  I  won't  to- 
night." Then  the  last  step  is  to  despise  it. 
Some  of  you  have  already  got  on  the  lower 
round  of  the  ladder.  You  despise  Christ. 
I  see  some  of  you  looking  at  me  with  scorn 
and  contempt.  You  hate  Christ,  you  hate 
Christianity  ;  you  hate  the  best  people  on 
earth  and  the  best  friends  you  have  got; 
and  if  I  were  to  offer  you  the  Bible  you 
would  tear  it  up  and  put  your  foot  upon  it. 
Oh,  despisers  !  you  will  soon  be  in  another 
world.  Make  haste  and  repent  and  turti 
to  God.  Now,  on  which  step  are  you,  my 
friend — neglecting,  or  refusing,  or  despis- 
ing 1  Bear  in  mind  that  a  great  many  are 
taken  off  from  the  first  step :  they  die  in 
neglect.  And  a  great  many  are  taken  away 
refusing.  And  a  great  many  are  on  the 
last  step,  despising  salvation.  I  wish  I 
could  settle  this  question  for  you.  I  wish 
I  could  bleed  for  you.  Won't  you  come  ? 
Everything  that  is  pure  and  holy  and  love- 
ly is  beckoning  us  to  a  world  of  love  and 
p^ace ;  everything  that  is  polluted  and  vile 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


87 


and  hellish  and  carnal  is  beckoning  us 
down.  I  set  before  you  life  and  death  ; 
which  will  you  choose  ?  When  Pilate  had 
Christ  on  his.  hands,  he  said,  "  What  shall  I 
do  with  Him  V^  and  the  multitude  cried 
out,  "Away  with  Him!  crucify  Him!" 
Young  men,  is  that  your  language  to-night } 
Do  you  say,  "  Away  with  this  Gospel ! 
Away  with  Christianity !  Away  with  your 
prayers,  your  sermons,  your  Gospel  sounds ! 
I  do  not  want  Christ  V  Or  will  you  be 
wise  and  say,  "  Lord  Jesus,  I  want  Thee,  I 
need  Thee,  I  will  have  Thee  ?"  May  God 
bring  you  to  that  decision  ! 

THE    CHILD    ANGEL. 

I  will  tell  you  an  anecdote  now,  because 
the  man  of  whom  the  story  is  told  may  rep- 
resent many  in  this  audience  to-night.  A 
few  years  ago  I  was  attending  a  Sabbath- 
school  convention  in  a  little  town,  where  a 
man  to  whom  I  was  a  stranger  took  me  into 
his  house.  It  was  a  warm  day  and  the 
curtains  were  down,  so  that  the  room 
was  dark.  His  wife  was  in  bed,  and  he 
excused  himself  because  he  had  some 
matters  to  attend  to.  I  was  left  alone.  It 
was  so  dark  that  I  could  not  read,  and  I 
walked  up  and  down  the  room  till  I  felt 
lonely.  Presently  he  came  in,  and  I  said, 
"  Have  you  no  children  }"  I  am  very  fond 
of  children,  and  I  thought  if  he  had  any  I 
could  play  with  them.  He  said  no ;  he 
had  one,  but  God  had  taken  her  from  him; 
she  was  in  heaven,  and  he  said  he  was  glad 
of  it.  I  said,  "  Glad  that  your  only  child  is 
dead  V  "  Yes,"  he  said.  "  How  is  that .?" 
I  asked.  "  Was  she  deformed,  or  was  any- 
thing wrong  with  her.?"  "  No,"  said  he, 
""she  was  as  perfect  as  could  be;"  and  he 
got  up  and  brought  me  one  of  those  old 
fashioned  daguerreotypes — a  portrait  of  a 
beautiful  girl,  with  golden  curls  falling 
down  her  neck,  more  like  an  angel  than  a 
child.  I  asked  how  old  she  was.  "  Seven." 
"  What  do  you  mean  by  saying  you  are 
glad  she  is  in  heaven.?"  "  Well,"  said  he, 
'*  I  worshiped  that  child,  that  child  was 
in  all  my  plans,  I  was  making  money  for 
my  child,  and  every  Sunday  I  spent  hours 
with  her ;  she  was  the  idol  of  my  heart,  but 
I  did  not  know  it.  One  day  I  found  my 
child  sick.  I  did  not  think  it  was  danger- 
ous, but  in  a  few  days  she  died,  and  I  ac- 
cused God  of  being  unjust  'in  sparing  the 
families  of  others  and  taking  away  my 
child,  and  I  refused  to  be  reconciled.  I 
would  have  torn  God  from  His  throne  if  I 
could.      For    three    days    and    nights    I 


neither  ate,  nor  drank,  nor  slept.  I  was 
almost  mad.  On  the  third  day  I  buried 
her,  and  when  I  came  home,  as  I  walked 
up  and  down  the  room,  I  thought  I  heard 
the  voice  of  my  little  one ;  but  then  I 
thought,  *  No,  that  voice  is  hushed  forever.' 
Then  I  thought  I  heard  her  little  feet  com- 
ing towards  me,  but  then  I  said,  '  No,  I 
shall  never  hear  those  little  feet  again.'  At 
last  I  threw  myself  on  my  bed,  and  began 
to  Aveep.  Nature  gave  way,  and  I  fell 
asleep.  I  had  a  dream.  I  suppose  it  was 
a  dream  ;  but  it  has  always,  seemed  to  me 
more  like  a  vision.  I  thought  I  was  cross- 
ing a  waste,  barren  field,  and  I  came  to  a 
river  that  looked  so  cold  and  dark  and 
dreary  that  I  drew  back  from  it ;  but,  look- 
ing across,  I  saw  the  most  beautiful  land 
my  eyes  had  ever  rested  upon  ;  and  as  I 
gazed  I  thought  that  death  and  sickness 
and  disease  could  never  enter  there.  Then 
I  saw  a  company  on  the  other  side,  and 
among  them  my  own  darling  child.  She 
came  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  waving 
her  little  angel  hand,  said,  '  Father,  come 
right  this  way;  it  is  so  beautiful  here  ;'  and 
she  beckoned  me  to  the  world  of  light.  I 
then  went  to  the  water's  edge,  and  thought 
I  would  plunge  in,  but  it  was  too  deep  for 
me — I  could  not  swim.  I  thought  I  would 
give  anything  to  cross.  I  tried  to  find  a 
boat,  but  there  was  no  ferryman.  I  looked 
for  a  bridge,  but  there  was  none ;  and 
while  I  was  wandering  up  and  down  the 
little  angel  voice  came  across  the  stream, 
'Come  right  this  way,  father;  it  is  beauti- 
ful here!'  All  at  once  I  heard  a  voice  as 
if  it  came  from  heaven,  saying,  *  I  am  the 
Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life.  No  man 
cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  Me.'  The 
voice  awoke  me  from  sleep.  I  thought  it 
was  my  God  calling  me,  and  that  if  I 
would  ever  see  my  child  again  I  must 
come  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  That 
night  I  knelt  beside  my  bed  and  gave  my- 
self to  God.  Now  I  no  longer  look  upon 
my  child  as  sleeping  in  her  grave,  but  I 
see  her  with  the  eye  of  faith  in  that  beauti- 
ful land,  and  every  night  when  I  lie  down 
I  hear  her  sweet  voice  saying,  *  Come  right 
this  way,  father,'  and  every  morning  I  hear 
her  repeating  the  same  words.  Now  my 
wife  is  converted.  I  am  superintendent 
of  the  Sabbath-school,  and  eight  children 
have  been  converted,  and  I  am  trying  to 
get  as  many  converted  as  I  can  to  go  with 
me  to  that  beautiful  land."  Undoubtedly 
I  am  speaking  to  some  father  to-night  with 
a  lost  one   in   that  world.     If  that  child 


88 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


could  speak  to  you,  would  it  not  say, 
"  Come  right  this  way,  father  ?"  And  many 
a  young  man  is  here  who  has  a  sainted 
mother  or  sister  in  heaven.  If  she  could 
now  speak  from  the  battlements  of  heaven, 
would  not  the  words  be,  "  Come  right  this 
way,  my  brother,"  "Come  right  this  way, 
my  son"?  Oh,  thank  God  that  we  have 
all  got  an  elder  Brother  across  the  stream. 
The  Son  of  God  stands  on  the  banks  to- 
night, calling  to  every  one,  "  Come  this 
way,  my  child."  Young  man,  won't  you 
rise  and  go  to  your  Father  to-night  }  May 
God  call  you  home,  wanderer  !  May  every 
backslider  return  and  press  into  the  king- 
dom. I  beg  of  you  as  a  friend,  do  not 
leave  this  hall  to-night  until  you  have 
sought  the  kingdom  of  God.  Make  up 
your  mind  this  night  and  this  hour  that 
you  will  press  into  the  kingdom. 


VI. 

THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God." — John  iii.  3. 

Much  less  inherit  it.  He  can't  even 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ex- 
cept he  be  born  again.  I  believe  that  we 
have  the  most  important  subject  before  us 
to-night  that  will  ever  come  before  us  in  this 
world.  I  don't  believe  there  is  any  truth 
in  the  whole  Bible  so  important  as  the 
truth  brought  out  in  the  third  chapter  of 
the  Gospel  of  John. 

It  is  the  A  B  C  of  God's  alphabet.  If  a 
man  is  unsound  on  regeneration,  he  is  un- 
sound on  everything.  That  is  really  the 
foundation  stone;  and  he  must  get  the 
foundation  right.  If  he  don't,  what  is  the 
good  of  trying  to  build  a  house }  Now, 
He  says  plainly,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again."  And  although  regeneration,  or  the 
new  birth,  is  taught  so  plain  in  the  third 
chapter  of  John,  I  don't  believe  there  is 
any  truth  in  the  whole  Bible  that  the 
church  and  the  world  are  so  mixed  up  on, 
and  in  such  great  darkness  about,  as  this 
great  truth  in  the  third  chapter  of  John. 
There  are  a  great  many  that  are,  as  it  were, 
like  the  man  that  saw  men  as  trees  walking. 
Many  Christians  do  not  seem  to  be  just  in 
a  mind  about  this  new  birth. 

BORN  A  CHRISTIAN. 

Only  this  afternoon,  as  I  was  in  the  in- 
quiry-room, a  person  came  in,  and   I  said, 


"  Are  you  a  Christian  .?"  "  Why,"  she  says, 
"  of  course  I  am."  **  Well,"  I  said,  *'  how 
long  have  you  been  one .''"  "  Oh,  sir,  I  was 
born  one."  "  Oh  !  indeed,  then  I  am  very 
glad  to  take  you  by  the  hand;  I  congratulate 
you  ;  you  are  the  first  woman  I  ever  met  who 
was  born  a  Christian ;  you  are  more  fortu- 
nate than  others  ;  they  are  born  children  of 
Adam."  She  hesitated  a  little,  and  then 
tried  to  make  out  that,  because  she  was 
born  in  England,  she  was  a  Christian. 
There  are  a  great  many  who  have  the  idea 
that,  because  they  are  born  in  England  or  a 
Christian  country,  they  have  been  born  of 
the  Spirit.  Now,  in  this  third  chapter  of 
John,  the  new  birth  is  brought  out  so  plain, 
that  if  any  one  will  read  it  carefully  and 
prayerfully,  I  think  their  eyes  will  soon  be 
opened.  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is 
flesh  ;  it  remains  flesh  ;  and  that  which  is 
born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit,  and  that  remains 
spirit.  So,  when  a  man  is  born  of  God,  he  has 
God's  naturel  When  a  man  is  born  of  his 
parents,  he  receives  their  nature,  and  they 
received  the  nature  of  their  parents,  and 
you  can  trace  it  back  to  Eden.  We  have 
received  the  nature  of  the  first  Adam,  but 
when  a  man  is  born  of  God,  or  born  from 
above,  or  born  of  the  Spirit  —  that  is  the 
way  the  Holy  Ghost  puts  it  in  that  third 
verse — he  receives  God's  nature,  and  then 
it  is  he  leaves  the  life  of  the  flesh  for  the 
life  of 'the  Spirit. 

SATAN  GOING  TO  CHURCH. 

Before  I  go  on  I  want  to  say  one  thing  : 
and  that  is,  what  this  new  birth,  or  being 
born  of  the  Spirit,  is  not.  A  great  many 
think  they  have  been  born  again  because 
they  go  to  church.  A  great  many  say, 
"  Oh,  yes,  I  am  a  Christian  ;  I  go  to  church 
every  Sabbath."  Let  me  say  here  that 
there  is  no  one  that  goes  to  church  so 
regularly  in  all  London  as  Satan.  He  is 
always  there  before  the  minister,  and  he  is 
the  last  one  out  of  the  church.  There  is  not 
a  church  in  London,  or  a  chapel,  but  that 
he  is  a  regular  attendant  of  it.  The  idea 
that  he  is  only  down  in  the  slums  and  lanes 
and  alleys  of  London  is  a  false  idea.  The 
idea  that  he  is  only  in  public-houses  —  I 
will  confess  I  think  he  is  there,  and  that 
he  is  doing  his  work  very  well  —  but  to 
think  that  he  is  only  there  is  a  false  idea. 
He  is  wherever  the  Word  is  preached  ;  it 
is  his  business  to  be  there,  and  catch  away 
the  seed.  He  is  here  to-night.  Some  of 
you  may  go  to  sleep,  but  he  won't.  Some 
of  you  may  not  listen  to  the  sermon,  but 


SERMONS  A  WD  ADDRESSES. 


89 


he  will.  He  will  be  watching,  and  when 
the  seed  is  just  entering  into  some  heart 
he  will  go  and  catch  it  away.  May  God 
rebuke  Satan  to-night,  and  may  the  Word 
of  God  fall  deep  into  the  hearts  of  many. 
May  many  be  called  to-night. 

A  CHRISTIAN  BECAUSE  BAPTIZED. 

Another  class  say,  *'  Oh,  yes,  I  am  a 
Christian,  because  I  was  baptized."  Now, 
I  want  to  say  here  that  baptism  is  one 
thing,  and  being  born  again  is  another. 
Because  a  person  is  baptized,  you  would 
not  say  that  that  is  new  birth.  Would 
you  call  that  being  born  from  above .''  You 
cannot  baptize  a  man  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Now,  bear  that  in  mind.  If  I  could 
save  men  by  baptizing  them,  you  would 
not  catch  me  preaching.  I  would  get 
water  and  baptize  them ;  that  would  be 
the  quickest  way.  It  would  be  no  use  to 
be  praying  and  pleading  for  men  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  of  God.  But,  you  can 
never  get  them  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
by  baptism.  Baptism  is  all  right  in  its 
place.  I  am  not  here  crying  down  church 
ordinances;  I  am  talking  about  the  new 
birth,  and  there  are  a  great  many,  I  believe, 
being  deceived  on  this  one  point,  that  be- 
cause they  have  been  baptized  at  some 
time  of  their  life  they  have  become  Chris- 
tians. But  that  is  not  new  birth  ;  that  is 
not  being  born  from  above  and  of  the  Spirit. 
Do  not  let  Satan  deceive  you,  my  friends, 
on  that  point,  for  it  is  a  very  important 
truth  ;  and  we  want  to  have  every  one  here 
to  -  night  to  understand,  and  I  hope  the 
Spirit  of  God  will  make  plain  the  difference 
between  baptism  and  conversion,  or  re- 
generation, or  being  born  of  the  Spirit,  or 
being  born  again. 

JOINING  THE  CHURCH. 

There  is  another  class  that  say,  "Oh, 
yes,  I  became  a  Christian  when  I  joined 
the  church — the  day  when  I  united  with 
the  church."  That  ain't  being  born  again. 
What  is  that  to  do  with  the  new  birth,  be- 
ing united  with  the  church  on  earth  ? 
There  are  a  great  many  united  with  the 
church  who  are  on  their  way  to  death  and 
ruin.  A  great  many  have  no  hope  of  eter- 
nal life  who  are  members  of  the  church. 
One  of  the  twelve  Christ  chose  to  follow 
Him  turned  out  a  hypocrite  and  a  traitor; 
he  was  not  loyal  to  Christ  at  heart.  My 
friends,  don't  just  build  your  hope  of 
heaven  upon  some  profession  of  your  faith ; 


but  bear  in  mind  it  is  the  being  born  of 
God.  Now  just  let  me  stop  a  minute,  and 
you  just  think,  and  ask  yourselves  that 
question,  "  Have  I  been  born  again  ?'  It 
is  the  most  solemn  question  that  will  ever 
come  before  you  down  here — "  Have  I 
been  born  from  above  ?  Have  I  been  born 
of  the  Spirit?"  It  ain't  making  some  new 
resolutions.  You  have  made  enough  of 
them.  That  ain't  the  new  birth.  I  never 
met  any  one  who  had  not  made  some  good 
resolutions  in  their  life.  It  ain't  trying  to 
do  good.  A  great  many  say,  "  I  try  to  do 
the  best  I  can  and  I  think  it  will  come 
out  all  right."  What  is  that  to  do  with  the 
new  birth  and  the  new  creation  }  It  don't 
say  to  him  that  tries  to  do  the  best  he  can, 
but  to  him  that  believeth  or  that  is  born  of 
the  Spirit ;  and  "  E.xcept  a  man  be  born 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

INSTANTANEOUS   CONVERSION. 

Now,  I  believe  this  birth  is  instantane- 
ous. I  have  met  a  great  many  people  who 
cannot  tell  the  day  or  the  hour  of  their 
conversion ;  but  there  must  have  been  a 
time  when  they  passed  from  death  unto 
life — when  they  were  born  of  the  Spirit. 

There  must  have  been  a  time  when  their 
names  were  written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 
They  may  not  be  conscious  of  the  day,  or 
the  hour,  or  the  week,  or  the  month,  or  the 
year ;  but,  my  friends,  I  beg  of  you  to  be 
sure  that  they  have  been  born  of  the  Spirit. 
Don't  be  deceived  upon  this  one  truth,  be- 
cause Christ  Himself  says,  "  Except  a  man 
be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

As  I  said  before,  when  I  was  born  of  my 
parents  I  received  their  nature,  I  received 
the  nature  of  the  flesh  ;  and  I  cannot  serve 
God  in  the  flesh.  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."  And  before  a  man 
can  worship  God  he  must  be  born  of  God ; 
he  must  be  born  of  the  Spirit.  Then  with 
this  new  birth,  with  this  new  life  he  can 
serve  God.  Then  the  yoke  is  easy ;  then 
the  burden  is  light.  A  man  may  as  well 
try  to  fly  to  the  moon  as  to  serve  God  be- 
fore he  has  been  born  of  the  Spirit.  It  is 
utterly  impossible.  The  natural  man  is  at 
enmity  against  God ;  his  natural  heart  is 
at  war  with  God  ;  it  always  has  been,  and : 
it  always  will  be.  And  not  only  that,  but 
you  cannot  make  it  better.  Somebody 
said  that  God  never  mends.  God  creates 
anew ;  therefore  don't  be  trying  to  patch 
up  that  old  Adam  nature.     God  says,  "  It 


90 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


shall  never  come  into  My  presence." 
Therefore  God  has  just  set  it  aside.  But 
He  tells  us  how  we  are  to  come  into  His 
presence,  and  how  we  are  to  get  into  His 
kingdom.  This  is  worthy  to  be  borne  in 
mind.  You  cannot  educate  men  into  it. 
That  is  what  the  world  is  trying  to  do.  But 
he  that  climbeth  up  by  some  other  way  than 
the  Lord's  way  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a 
robber.  You  had  better  be  born  into  it  in 
God's  way. 

FOREIGNERS  HAVE  NO  RIGHT  TO  COMPLAIN. 

We  have  a  law  in  America  that  no  man 
shall  be  President  of  the  United  States  that 
has  not  been  born  on  American  soil.  We 
have  a  great  many  Englishmen  come  to 
America ;  but  I  have  never  heard  one  com- 
plain about  that  law.  We  have  a  great 
many  Germans,  Scotchmen,  Irishmen,  and 
Welshmen,  in  fact  men  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  who  come  to  America,  and  yet  I 
have  never  heard  one  complain  about  that 
law.  They  say  America  has  the  right  to 
say  who  shall  be  President.  I  come 
here  to  your  country,  and  I  do  not  com- 
plain because  you  have  a  Queen  to 
reign  over  you.  What  right  have  I 
to  complain  }  Has  not  England  a  right 
to  say  who  shall  rule  it,  and  who 
shall  be  its  Queen  .?  Foreigners  have  no 
right  to  interfere.  And  I  would  like  to  ask 
you  this  question,  Has  not  God  a  right  to 
say  who  shall  come  into  His  kingdom,  and 
how  we  shall  come  ?  Now,  my  friend, 
God  tells  us  here  we  are  to  come  into  His 
kingdom  by  the  new  birth.  We  must  be 
born  from  abov'e,  born  of  the  Spirit,  and 
then  we  get  a  nature  that  goes  out  towards 
God.  If  you  take  a  drunken  man,  and  put 
him  on  the  very  pavement  of  heaven,  he 
will  not  be  happy  there.  The  drunkard 
doesn't  want  heaven.  What  is  he  to  do 
there  .''  He  has  no  whiskey  to  drink  there, 
and  he  has  none  of  his  old  companions. 
What  is  he  to  do  ?  He  would  say,  "  This 
is  hell  to  me.  I  don't  want  to  sit  here." 
A  man  that  cannot  spend  one  Sabbath  on 
earth  among  God's  people,  what  is  he  to  do 
with  that  eternal  Sabbath,  with  those  that 
have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them 
white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  >  A  man 
must  have  a  spiritual  nature  before  he 
wants  to  go  to  heaven.  Heaven  cannot 
have  any  attractions  to  a  man  until  he  is 
I'  .)rn  out  of  heaven  of  the  Spirit. 

A  WORD  FOR  THE  MORALISTS. 

Kow   let  us   go  back  to  this  man  that 


Christ  said  these  words  here  to.  I  often 
rejoice  He  didn't  say  this  to  that  woman  at 
the  well,  nor  to  that  woman  Mr.  Sankey 
has  been  singing  about  to-night.  If  He 
had  said  to  them,  people  would  have  said, 
"  Oh,  that  poor  woman  needs  to  be  con- 
verted; but  I  am  a  moralist ;  I  don't  need 
to  be  converted.  Regeneration  will  do  for 
harlots,  thieves,  and  drunkards,  but  we 
moralists  do  not  need  it."  But  who  did 
Christ  say  it  to  .'  He  said  it  to  Nicodemus. 
Who  was  he  .''  He  belonged  to  the  house 
of  bishops.  He  would  have  been  a  bishop 
if  he  had  been  here.  Nicodemus  stood 
very  high  ;  he  was  one  of  the  church  dig- 
nitaries ;  he  stood  as  high  as  any  man  in 
Jerusalem,  except  the  high  priest  himself. 
He  belonged  to  the  seventy  rulers  of  the 
Jews ;  he  was  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and 
taught  the  law.  There  is  not  one  word  of 
Scripture  against  him  ;  he  was  a  man  that 
stood  out  before  the  whole  nation  as  of 
pure  and  spotless  character.  What  does 
Christ  say  to  him  .?  "  Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."  I  can  see  a  scowl  on  his  forehead. 
He  says,  "  What  do  you  mean  by  being 
born  again — born  from  above,  born  of  the 
Spirit.''  Now  I  am  old,  can  I  a  second 
time  enter  my  mother's  womb,  and  be  born 
again }  "  Jesus  saith,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water, 
and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God."  He  didn't  take  back  what 
He  had  said,  but  he  just  repeated  it — "  Ex- 
cept a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see 
the  kingdom  of  God."  I  can  just  imagine 
Nicodemus  was  like  tens  of  thousands  o( 
men  in  London  to-day.  The  moment  you 
talk  to  them  about  regeneration  or  convert 
sion,  there  is  a  scowl  on  their  forehead. 
They  say,  "  I  don't  understand  it."  Of 
course,  the  natural  man  don't  understand 
spiritual  things.  It  is  a  matter  of  revela- 
tion. I  hope  God  will  reveal  Himself  to 
many  a  soul  here  to-night.  A  great  many 
men  try  to  investigate  and  find  out  God. 
Suppose  you  spend  a  little  of  your  time  in 
asking  God  to  reveal  Himself  to  you. 

A  TALK  IN  THE  SMOKING-ROOM. 

I  heard,  some  time  ago,  of  some  commer- 
cial travelers  who  went  to  hear  a  man 
preach.  They  came  back  to  the  hotel,  and 
were  sitting  in  the  smoking-room,  talking, 
and  they  said  the  minister  did  not  appeal 
to  their  reason,  and  they  would  not  believe 
anything  they  could  not  reason  out.  There 
was  an  old  man  sitting  there  listening,  and 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


91 


he  said  to  them,  "  You  say  you  won't  be- 
lieve anything  you  can't  reason  out  ?  " 
"  No,  we  won't."  The  old  man  said,  "  As 
I  was  coming  on  the  train,  yesterday,  I 
noticed  some  sheep  and  cattle  and  swine 
and  geese,  all  eating  grass.  Now,  can  you 
tell  me  by  what  process  that  same  grass 
v/as  turned  into  feathers,  hair,  bristles,  and 
wool }  "  "  Well,  no,  we  can't  just  tell  you 
that."  "Do  you  believe  it  is  a  fact.?" 
"Oh,  yes,  it  is  a  fact."  "I  thought  you 
said  you  would  not  believe  anything  you 
could  not  reason  out  ?  "  "  Well,  we  can't 
help  believing  that ;  that  is  a  fact  we  see 
before  our  eyes."  "  Well,"  said  the  old 
man,  "  I  can't  help  but  believe  in  regenera- 
tion, and  a  man  being  converted,  although 
I  cannot  explain  how  God  converted  him." 
I  have  no  doubt,  if  a  man  spoke  about  this 
to  me  21  years  ago,  I  should  have 
said  it  was  all  Greek,  and  that  I  did  not 
understand  what  the  man  was  talking  about. 
There  may  be  a  good  many  in  this  hall  to- 
night wondering  what  that  American  is 
talking  about.  Born  again  ;  born  of  the 
Spirit !  I  do  not  understand  it.  But  I  un- 
derstand it  now  (and  I  can  call  hundreds 
of  witnesses  here) — why  ?  Because  I  have 
been  born  of  the  Spirit. 

THE  GREAT   TEACHER's  ILLUSTRATION. 

Now,  the  illustration  which  Christ  used 
to  Nicodemus  was  the  wind.  "  The  wind 
bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  no  man  know- 
eth  whence  it  conieth  nor  whither  it  goeth." 
Now,  you  cannot  see  the  spirit  of  God  work 
in  this  audience ;  but  I  hope  and  pray  He 
may  be  working  now  in  the  hearts  of  many, 
convincing  them  of  sin  !  Do  you  believe 
more  than  ever  that  you  are  a  sinner  ?  Well, 
that  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
devil  never  told  you  you  are  a  sinner ;  he 
tries  to  make  you  believe  you  are  good 
enough.  If  you  believe  to-night  that  you 
have  sinned  against  God,  that  is  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  is  here 
to-night  at  work.  We  cannot  see  Him, 
but  there  are  a  great  many  who  know 
He  is  here.  Suppose  I  should  say  I  don't 
believe  in  the  wind,  and  that  it  must  be 
all  imagination.  I  have  lived  thirty-seven 
years,  and  have  never  seen  the  wind.  No 
one  ever  saw  the  wind.  It  is  all  imagina- 
tion; it  is  folly  for  men  to  talk  about 
the  wind.  I  can  just  imagine  that  boy 
there  saying,  "  Why,  I  know  more  than 
that  man  ;  I  know  there  is  wind,  for  it 
blew  my  hat  off  this  Very  day  into  the 
mud ;  and  I  have  often  felt  it  blowing  in 


my  face."  My  friends,  you  have  never  felt 
the  wind  more  than  I  have  felt  the  Spirit 
of  God.  You  have  never  seen  the  effects 
of  the  wind  more  than  I  have  seen  the 
effects  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  of  the 
workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  there  are 
hundreds  of  witnesses  here  to-night  who 
would  testify  the  same  thing. 

AN    APPEAL   TO   THE   DRUNKARD, 

It  may  be  that  I  am  talking  now  to  some 
poor  drunkard  here.  When  he  comes 
into  his  house,  his  children  listen,  and  hear 
by  the  footfall  that  their  father  is  coming 
home  drunk,  and  the  little  things  run  away 
and  hide  from  him  as  if  he  was  some  horrid 
demon.  His  wife  begins  to  tremble. 
Many  a  time  has  that  great,  strong  arm 
been  brought  down  on  her  weak,  defence- 
less body.  Many  a  day  has  she  carried 
about  marks  from  that  man's  violence. 
He  ought  to  be  her  protector,  support,  and 
stay ;  but  he  has  become  her  tormenter. 
His  home  is  like  hell  upon  earth  ;  there  is 
no  joy  there.  There  may  be  one  such  here 
to-night  who  hears  the  good  news  that  he 
can  be  born  again,  and  receive  a  nature 
from  heaven,  and  receive  the  Spirit  of  God. 
God  can  give  him  power  to  hurl  the  infer- 
nal cup  from  him.  God  will  give  him 
grace  to  trample  Satan  under  his  feet,  and 
the  drunkard  will  then  become  a  sober 
man.  Go  to  that  house  three  months 
hence,  and  you  will  find  it  neat  and  clean. 
As  you  draw  near  that  home  you  hear 
singing ;  not  the  song  of  the  drunkard  ; 
that  is  gone  ;  all  things  have  become  new. 
He  has  been  born  of  God,  and  is  singing 
one  of  the  songs  of  Zion  : 

"  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me. 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee." 

Or  perhaps  he  is  singing  that  good  old 
hymn  that  his  mother  taught  him  when  he 
was  a  little  boy  : 

"  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 
Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins  ; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

He  has  become  a  child  of  God,  an  heir  of 
heaven.  His  children  are  climbing  up  his 
knee,  and  he  has  his  arms  round  their 
neck.  That  dark  home  is  now  changed 
into  a  little  Bethel  on  earth.  God  dwells 
there  now.  Yes,  God  has  done  all  that, 
and  that  is  regeneration.  May  God  con- 
vert the  drunkard !  I  hope  many  a 
drunkard    will    be     converted     to-night. 


92 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


Christians,  lift  up  your  hearts  for  the  poor 
drunkards  of  London.  If  they  try  to  lead 
a  better  life,  One  mighty  to  save,  Christ  the 
Lord,  will  give  fhem  the  victory ;  for, 
strong  as  driuk  may  be.  His  grace  is 
stronger.  May  the  Christians  make  haste 
and  tell  the  glad  news  to  the  drunkards  of 
London ! 

THE    WORTH   OF   GOOD   RESOLVES. 

Then  some  of  you  may  have  been  say- 
ing, "  I  wish  Mr.  Moody  would  tell  us  how 
we  are  to  become  Christians  ;  for  he  says 
that  we  cannot  be  Christians  by  trying  to 
do  good  and  by  making  new  resolutions." 
Many  a  time  you  have  been  at  a  meeting 
like  this,  and  have  resolved  to  turn  oyer  a 
new  leaf,  and  you  may  now  form  another 
good  resolution.  If  you  do,  you  will 
break  it.  I  would  not  give  that  for  all 
your  resolutions.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  }  If  it  is  a  new  birth  you  are  to  have, 
you  cannot  create  life.  Can  you  bring  life 
to  a  dead  fly  }  All  the  wise  men  in  Lon- 
don cannot  do  it.  God  alone  is  the  author 
of  life  ;  and  if  you  have  new  birth,  it  must 
be  God's  work.  When  the  Jubilee  Singers 
were  in  the  north  of  England  my  family 
went  to  see  them,  and  my  little  boy  asked 
why  they  didn't  wash  the  black  off  their 
faces.  I  told  him  it  was  because  they  were 
born  black...  The  Ethiopian  cannot  change 
his  skin,  nor  the  leopard  his  spots.  You 
cannot  save  yourself.  There  is  a  man 
dying — can  you  put  new  life  into  him  "i 
Or  can  you  raise  up  a  dead  body  by  say- 
ing, "  Young  man,  arise  "  .?  That  is  the 
work  of  God.  Your  souls  are  dead  in 
trespasses  and  sin.  May  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  speak  life.  God  said,  "  Let  there  be 
light ;  "  and  there  was  light.  And  if  He 
says,  "  Let  there  be  life, '  there  will  be  life. 

THE  BEGGAR  AND    THE   PRINCE  OF  WALES. 

I  imagine  some  of  you  will  say,  "  I 
haven't  anything  to  do."  Well,  you 
haven't.  Salvation  has  been  worked  out 
for  you  by  another.  Many  go  all  round 
the  world  in  search  of  honor  or  posses- 
sions. Salvation  is  worth  thousands  of 
times  more  ;  but  you  don't  get  it  that  way. 
God  has  but  one  price  for  salvation.  Do 
you  want  to  know  what  it  is }  It  is  with- 
out money  and  without  price.  Rowland 
Hill  said  that  most  auctioneers  found  they 
had  hard  work  to  get  the  people  up  to 
their  price,  but  that  he  had  hard  work  to 
get  people  down  to  his.     "  The  wages  of 


sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life."  Who  will  have  it  to-night  1  I  say 
to  you,  young  man,  will  you  have  that  gift 
to  night  }  Suppose  I  was  going  over  Lon- 
don Bridge,  and  saw  a  poor,  miserable 
beggar,  bare-footed,  coatless,  hatless,  with 
no  rags  hardly  to  cover  his  nakedness,  and 
right  behind  him,  only  a  few  yards,  was 
the  Prince  of  Wales  with  a  bag  of  gold, 
and  the  poor  beggar  was  running  away 
from  him"  as  if  he  was  running  away  from  a 
demon,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  wa^  hal- 
looing, "  Oh,  beggar,  here  is  a  bag  of 
gold  !  "  Why,  we  should  say  the  beggar 
had  gone  mad,  to  be  running  away  from 
the  Prince  of  Wales  with  the  bag  of  gold. 
Sinner,  that  is  your  condition.  Thg 
Prince  of  Heaven  wants  to  give  you  eter- 
nal life,  and  you  are  running  away  from 
Him.  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but 
the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  Then 
you  say,  "  If  I  have  nothing  to  do,  what  is 
going  to  become  of  me  .-*  If  it  is  not  by 
working  in  earnest,  how  am  I  to  be  saved  .''" 

THE  CHEAP  AND  SIMPLE    REMEDY. 

It  is  God's  work  entirely  how  you  are  to 
be  saved.  I  will  tell  you ;  Scripture  will 
tell  you — that  is  better.  Take  the  illus- 
tration Christ  used  to  Nicodemus ;  you 
could  not  have  a  better.  He  took  him  to 
the  remedy : — "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the 
serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the 
Son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  eternal  life."  Now  there  is  the  rem- 
edy. How  am  I  to  be  saved  .?  By  look- 
ing for  life,  eternal  life ;  just  by  looking. 
It's  very  cheap,  isn't  it.?  Very  simple,  isn't 
it }  Little  girl,  just  look  away  to  the  Lamb 
of  God  to-night  and  be  saved.  What  says 
the  great  wilderness  preacher  "i  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world."  You  might  say  the 
whole  plan  of  salvation  is  in  two  words  — 
Giving ;  Receiving  :  God  gives ;  I  receive. 

MR.  MOODY  AS  AN  ARMY  CHAPLAIN. 

I  remember,  after  one  of  our  terrible 
battles — I  was  in  the  army,  tending  sol- 
diers— and  I  had  just  laid  down  one  night, 
past  midnight,  to  get  a  little  rest,  when  a 
man  came  and  told  me  that  a  wounded 
soldier  wanted  to  see  me.  I  went  to  the 
dying  man ;  he  called  me  chaplain,  but  I 
was  not.  He  said,  "  Chaplain,  I  wish  you 
to  help  me  to  die."  I  said,  "  I  would  help 
you  to  die  if  I  could.     I  would  take  you 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


93 


on  my  shoulders  and  carry  you  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  if  I  could  ;  but  I  cannot. 
I  can  tell  you  of  One  that  can."  And  I 
told  him  of  Christ  being  willing  to  save 
him  ;  and  how  Christ  left  heaven  and  came 
into  the  world  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost.  I  just  quoted  promise 
after  promise,  but  all  was  dark,  and  it  al- 
most seemed  as  if  the  shades  of  eternal 
death  were  gathering  around  his  soul,  I 
could  not  leave  him,  and  at  last  I  thought 
of  this  third  chapter  of  John,  and  I  said  to 
him,  ''  Look  here,  I  am  going  to  read  to 
you  now  a  conversation  that  Christ  had 
with  a  man  that  went  to  Him  when  he  was 
in  your  state  of  mind,  and  inquired  what 
he  was  to  do  to  be  saved."  I  just  read 
that  conversation  to  the  dying  man,  and  he 
laid  there  with  his  eyes  rivetted  upon  me, 
and  every  word  seemed  to  be  going  home 
to  his  heart,  which  was  open  to  receive  the 
truth.  When  I  came  along  down  to  the 
verse  where  it  says,  '*  As  Moses  lifted  up 
the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must 
the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  eternal  life,"  the  dying  man  cried, 
"  Stop,  sir.  Is  that  there  .'"  "  Yes,  it  is 
all  here."  Then  he  said, "  Won't  you  please 
read  it  to  me  again.?"  I  read  it  the  second 
time.  "  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in 
the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of 
man  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life."  The  dying  man  brought  his  hands 
together,  and  he  said,  "  Bless  God  for  that. 
Won't  you  please  read  it  to  me  again  V  I 
hope  you  will  pardon  me  for  reading  it  the 
third  time,  but  I  want  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
impress  it  on  your  hearts  to-night.  "  As 
Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilder- 
ness, even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lift- 
ed up,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 
r  read  the  next  verses  :  "  For  God  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. 
For  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
through  Him  might  be  saved." 

THE   DYING    SOLDIER. 

I  read  through  the  whole  chapter,  but 
long  before  the  end  of  it  he  had  closed  his 
eyes.  He  seemed  to  lose  all  interest  in  the 
rest  of  the  chapter,  and  when  I  got  through 
it  his  arms  were  folded  on  his  breast,  he 
had  a  sweet  smile  on  his   face ;  remorse 


and  despair  had  fled  away.  His  lips  were 
quivering,  and  I  leaned  over  him,  and  heard 
him  faintly  whisper  from  his  dying  lips, 
"  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son  of  man 
be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal 
life."  He  opened  his  eyes,  and  fixed  his 
calm,  deathly  look  on  me,  and  he  said, 
"  Oh,  chaplain,  that  is  enough ;  that  is  all 
I  want."  And  in  a  few  hours  he  pillowed 
his  dying  head  upon  the  truth  of  those 
two  verses,  and  rode  away  on  one  of  the 
Saviour's  chariots,  and  took  his  seat  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Oh,  sinner,  you  can  be 
saved  to-night  if  you  will.  Look  and  live. 
May  God  help  every  lost  soul  here  to-night 
to  look  on  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  J:aketh 
away  the  sins  of  the  world. 


VII. 

A  SERMON  ON  ONE  WORD. 

I  SHALL  take  for  my  text  to-night  the 
one  word,  "  Gospel."  I  do  not  think  there 
is  a  word  in  the  English  language  that  is 
so  little  understood  in  this  Christian  land 
of  England  as  this  very  word  "  Gospel." 
We  have  heard  it  from  our  earliest  child- 
hood up.  There  is  not  a  day,  and  with 
many  of  us  not  an  hour  during  the  day, 
but  that  we- hear  the  word  "  Uospel."  And 
yet  I  say  a  partaker  of  the  Gospel  is  a  long 
time  before  he  really  knows  the  meaning  of 
the  word.  It  means  "  good  tidings."  I 
think  it  would  do  us  good  sometimes 
to  get  a  dictionary  and  hunt  up  the 
meaning  of  some  of  the  words  we  use 
so  often;  some  of  those  Bible  words, 
such  as  "  Gospel  "  and  "  Christ."  I  think 
it  would  change  our  ideas.  I  think 
this  would  be  a  very  joyful  meeting  to- 
night if  every  one  really  believed  that  the 
Gospel  is  good  news.  Why,  you  let  a 
man  or  a  boy  bring  a  dispatch  into  this  au- 
dience and  hand  it  to  any  one  here,  and  if 
that  brings  good  news  you  can  see  it  im- 
mediately in  the  man's  face ;  his  face  lights 
up  when  he  opens  the  dispatch.  You  can 
see  he  really  believes  it.  And  if  it  is  re- 
ally good  news,  if  it  brings  him  the  tidings 
of  a  long-lost  boy  got  or  coming  home, 
why,  if  his  wife  is  sitting  next  to  him,  he 
passes  the  dispatch  to  her;  he  wants  her  to 
have  knowledge  of  it.  He  does  not  wait 
for  her  to  ask  for  it;  he  does  not  wait  till 
they  get  home.  So  when  I  preach,  those 
who  really  believe  the  Gospel,  if  I  am  near 


94 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


enough  to  look  into  their  eye,  I  see  their 
face  lights  up  and  looks  remarkably  sharp; 
but  those  who  do  not  believe  it  put  on  a 
long  face,  and  look  as  if  you  had  brought 
them  a  death  warrant,  or  invited  them  to 
attend  a  funeral.  If  you  go  to  hear  some 
dull  and  stupid  sermon  or  lecture,  that  is 
not  the  Gospel. 

THE  ANGELIC  REVIVALISTS. 

The  Gospel  is  good  tidings  of  great  joy. 
No  better  news  ever  came  out  of  heaven 
than  the  Gospel.  No  better  news  ever 
fell  upon  the  ears  of  the  family  of  man 
than  that  Gospel.  Hark !  hear  those 
shepherds  talking  to  one  another  after  the 
angels  had  gone  away.  They  believed  the 
messag'e,  and  they  were  full  of  joy.  You 
can  see  them  on  the  way  now  to  Bethle- 
hem. They  said,  "  Let  us  go  and  see 
what  has  taken  place."  And  what  was 
the  message  that  the  angels  brought  to  those 
shepherds  .-'  "  Behold,  I  bring  you  good 
tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all 
people.  For  unto  you  is  born  this  day 
in  the  city  of  David  a  Saviour."  Now,  if 
those  shepherds  had  been  like  a  good  many 
people  at  the  present  time,  they  would  have 
■iaid,  "  We  do  not  believe  it  is  good  news. 
Do  not  believe  it.  It  is  all  excitement. 
Those  angels  want  to  get  up  a  revival. 
Those  angels  are  trying  to  excite  us.  Don't 
you  believe  them."  That  is  what  Satan  is 
saying  now.  "  Don't  you  believe  the  Gos- 
pel is  good  news."  Because  he  knows  the 
moment  a  man  believes  good  news,  he  just 
receives  it.  I  never  saw  a  man  in  all  my 
life  that  did  not  like  good  news.  I  never 
saw  a  man  in  all  my  travels  that  did  not 
like  good  news.  There  is  not  any  one 
here  to-night  but  what  likes  good  news. 
And  every  man  and  woman  that  is  under 
the  power  of  the  devil  does  not  believe  the 
Gospel  is  good  news.  The  moment  you 
are  out  from  under  his  power  and  influence 
then  you  believe  it.  May  God  bring  you 
out  to-night,  that  the  Gospel  may  sink  deep 
into  your  heart. 

"  god's   spell." 

It  is  the  best  news  that  ever  came  to  this 
sin-cursed  earth.  It  means  "  Good  spell," 
or  in  other  words,  "  God's  spell."  We  are 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sin,  and  God  wants 
us  to  be  reconciled.  It  is  a  Gospel  of  re- 
concilia';ion,  and  God  is  shouting  from  the 
heights  of  glory,  "  Oh,  ye  men,  I  am  recon- 
ciled,  0):w  be    ye  reconciled."     We  have 


glorious  news  to  tell  you — God  is  recon- 
ciled and  beseeches  His  subjects  to  be  re- 
conciled. The  great  apostle  says,  "  We 
beseech  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  recon- 
ciled." The  moment  a  man  believes  down 
go  his  arms  of  rebellion,  and  he  just  be- 
lieves the  Gospel.  The  unequal  contro- 
versy IS  over.  A  light  from  Calvary  crosses 
his  path,  and  he  can  walk  in  unclouded 
sun,  if  he  will.  It  is  the  privilege  of  every 
man  and  woman  in  this  vast  assembly  from 
this  hour  to  walk  in  unclouded  sun  if  they 
will.  What  has  brought  darkness  into  the 
world  .'*  Darkness  came  because  man 
would  not  believe  the  Gospel  that  Christ  is 
the  light  of  the  world.  Now  I  want  to 
tell  you  why  I  like  the  Gospel.  It  is  be- 
cause it  has  been  the  very  best  news  I  have 
ever  heard.  That  is  just  the  reason  I  like 
to  preach  it.  Because  it  has  done  me  so 
much  good.  I  do  not  think  a  man  can 
preach  the  Gospel  until  he  believes  it  him- 
self A  man  must  know  it  down  deep  in 
his  own  heart  before  he  can  tell  it  out ;  and 
then  he  tells  it  out  very  poorly. 

POOR  ambassadors. 

We  are  very  poor  ambassadors  and  mes- 
sengers; but  never  mind  the  messenger, 
take  hold  of  the  message — that  is  what  you 
want.  If  a  boy  brought  me  good  news  to- 
night, I  would  not  care  about  the  look  of 
the  boy  ;  I  would  not  care  whether  he  was 
black  or  white,  learned  or  unlearned.  The 
message  is  what  would  do  me  good.  A 
great  many  look  at  the  messenger  instead 
of  the  message.  Never  mind  the  messen- 
ger. My  friends,  get  hold  of  the  message 
to-night.  The  Gospel  is  what  saves,  and 
what  I  want  now' is  that  you  just  believe 
the  Gospel. 

Paul  says  in  this  15th  chapter  of  the  ist 
Corinthians  what  the  Gospel  is.  He 
says,  "I  declare  unto  you  the  Gospel." 
And  the  first  thing  he  states  in  the  decla"- 
ration  to  these  Corinthians  is  this : — 
"  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
Scriptures."  That  was  the  old-fashioned 
Gospel.  I  hope  we  never  will  get  away 
from  it.  I  don't  want  anything  but  that 
old,  old  story.  Some  people  have  itching 
ears  for  something  new.  Bear  in  mind 
there  is  no  new  Gospel.  Christ  died  for 
our  sins.  If  He  did  not,  how  are  we  going 
to  get  rid  of  them  }  Would  you  insult  the 
Almighty  by  offering  the  fruits  of  this  frail 
body  to  atone  for  sin .?  If  Christ  did  not 
die  for  our  sins,  what  is  going  to  become 
of  our  souls  ?     And  then  he  goes  on  to  tell 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


9S 


that  Christ    was   buried,  and  that   Christ 
rose  again. 

DEATH    AND  THE  REDEEMER. 

That  is  what  he  is  trying  to  bring  out  in 
the  15th  chapter  of  the  ist  book  of  Corinth- 
ians. He  burst  asunder  the  bands  of 
death.  Death  could  not  hold  Him.  I  can 
imagine  when  they  laid  Him  there  in  Jo- 
seph's sepulchre,  if  our  eyes  could  have 
been  there,  we  should  have  seen  Death  sit- 
ting over  that  sepulchre,  saying,  "  I  have 
Him  ;  He  is  my  victim.  He  said  He  was 
the  resurrection  and  the  life.  Now  I  have 
hold  of  Him  in  my  cold  embrace.  Look 
at  Him.  There  He  is  ;  He  has  had  to  pay 
tribute  to  me.  Some  thought  He  was 
never  going  to  die.  Some  thought  I  would 
not  get  Him.  But  He  is  mine."  But 
loo/.c  again  !  The  glorious  morning  comes, 
and  the  Son  of  man  bursts  asunder  the 
bands  of  death,  and  came  out  of  the  sepul- 
chre. We  do  not  worship  a  dead  God,  but 
a  Saviour  who  still  lives.  Yes,  He  rose 
from  the  grave ;  and  then  they  saAv  Him 
ascend.  That  is  what  Paul  calls  Gospel. 
Not  only  Christ's  death  and  burial,  but 
they  saw  Him  ascend  into  heaven.  He 
went  up  and  took  His  seat  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  He  will  come  back  again. 
The  Gospel  consists  of  five  things — Christ's 
death,  burial,  resurrection,  ascension  ;  and 
"  I  will  come  again,"  says  He.  Thanks  be 
to  God,  He  is  coming  back  by-and-by. 
He  will  come  and  take  the  kingdom ;  He 
will  sway  His  sceptre  from  the  rivers  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  by-and-by.  A  little 
while  and  He  shall  rule  and  reign.  Let  us 
lift  up  our  heads  and  rejoice  that  the  time 
of  our  redemption  draweth  near, 

Christ's  death  the  gospel. 

Let  us  get  back  to  the  simple  Gospel — 
Christ  died  for  our  sins.  We  must  know 
Christ  at  Calvary  first,  as  our  Substitute,  as 
our  Redeemer  ;  and  the  moment  we  accept 
of  Him  as  our  Saviour  and  our  Redeemer, 
then  it  is  that  we  become  partakers  of  the 
Gospel.  The  moment  I  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  my  Substitute,  as  my 
Saviour,  that  moment  I  get  light  and 
peace.  To-night  I  know  some  people  say, 
"  Oh,  it  is  not  Christ's  death  ;  it  is  Christ's 
life.  Do  not  be  preaching  so  much  about 
the  death  of  Christ ;  preach  about  His 
life."  My  friends,  that  never  will  save 
any  one.  Paul  says,  "  I  declare  unto  you 
the   Gospel.      Christ    died  " — not   Christ 


lived — "  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  who  His 
own  self  bare  our  sins  in  His  own  body,  on 
the  tree."  Now,  when  I  accept  of  Christ 
as  my  Saviour,  as  my  Substitute,  then  I  am 
justified  from  all  things  which  I  could  not 
be  by  the  law  of  Moses. 

PERSONAL    REMINISCENCES. 

As  I  was  going  to  say  a  few  minutes  ago, 
the  reason  I  like  the  Gospel  is  that  it  has 
taken  out  of  my  path  the  worst  enemies  I 
ever  had.  My  mind  rolls  back  to  twenty 
years  ago,  before  I  was  converted,  and  I 
think  very  often  how  dark  it  used  to  seem 
at  times  as  I  thought  of  the  future.  There 
was  death  —  what  a  terrible  enemy  it 
seemed  !  I  was  brought  up  in  a  little 
village  in  New  England.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom there  when  a  person  was  buried  to 
toll  out  the  age  of  the  man  at  his  funeral. 
I  used  to  count  the  strokes  of  the  bell. 
Death  never  entered  that  village  and  tore 
away  one  of  the  inhabitants,  but  I  always 
used  to  count  the  tolling  of  the  bell. 
Sometimes  it  would  be  away  up  to  seventy, 
or  between  seventy  and  eighty — beyond 
the  life  allotted  to  man,  when  man  seemed 
living  on  borrowed  time  when  cut  off. 
Sometimes  it  would  be  clear  down  in  the 
teens,  and  childhood,  and  death  would 
take  away  one  of  my  own  age.  It  used  to 
make  a  solemn  impression  on  me.  I  used 
to  be  a  great  coward.  When  it  comes  to 
death  some  men  say,  "  I  do  not  fear  it."  I 
feared  it,  and  felt  terribly  afraid,  when  I 
thought  of  the  cold  hand  of  ^death  feeling 
for  the  cords  of  life  ;  and  being  launched 
out  to  eternity,  to  go  to  an  unknown  world. 
I  used  to  have  terrible  thoughts  of  God ; 
but  they  are  all  gone  now.  Death  has 
lost  its  sting.  And  as  I  go  on  through 
the  world  I  can  shout  now,  when  the  bell 
is  tolling,  "  Oh,  death,  where  is  thy  sting.?" 
And  I  hear  a  voice  come  rolling  down  from 
Calvary,  "  Buried  in  the  bosom  of  the  Son 
of  God."  He  just  robbed  death  of  its 
sting.  He  just  took  the  sting  of  death 
into  His  own  bosom.  And  if  you  take  a 
wasp,  and  just  take  the  sting  out  of  that 
wasp,  you  will  not  be  afraid  of  it  any  more 
than  you  would  of  a  little  fly.  The  sting 
has  been  taken  out.  And  you  need  not  be 
afraid  if  you  are  in  Christ.  Christ  died  for 
your  sin.  The  penalty,  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death.  Christ  received  the  wages  on  Cal- 
vary, and  therefore  there  is  no  condemna- 
tion. All  that  death  can  get  now  is  this 
old  Adam.  I  do  not  care  how  quickly  I 
get  rid  of  it.     I  will  get  a  better  body,  a 


96 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


resurrected  body,  a  glorified  body,  a  body 
much  better  than  this.  Yes,  my  friends, 
"  To  die,"  says  the  apostle,  "  is  gain." 

THE    FEAR    OF    DEATH. 

If  a  man  is  in*  Christ,  let  death  come. 
Suppose  death  should  come  stealing  up 
into  this  pulpit,  and  should  lay  his  cold,  icy 
hand  upon  my  heart,  and  it  should  cease 
to  throb;  I  should  rise  to  another  world, 
and  should  be  present  with  the  King.  I 
should  be  absent  from  the  body,  but  present 
with  the  Lord.  That  is  not  bad  news. 
There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  conceal  it, 
death  is  an  enemy  to  a  man's  rest.  What 
a  glorious  thought  to  think  that  when  you 
die  you  will  sink  into  the  arms  of  Jesus, 
and  that  He  will  carry  you  away  to  yon 
world  of  light !  A  little  while  longer  here, 
a  few  more  tears,  and  then  you  can  gain  an 
unbroken  rest  in  yon  world  of  light.  The 
Gospel  turns  that  enemy  into  a  friend, 
and  you  even  shout  for  death.  Well, 
then,  I  used  to  go  and  look  into  the  cold, 
silent  grave,  and  I  used  to  think  of 
that  terrible  hour  when  I  would  have  to 
be  laid  down  in  the  grave,  and  this 
body  would  be  eaten  up  with  the  worm. 
But  now  the  grave  has  lost  its  terror  and 
gloom ;  I  can  go  and  look  down  into  the 
grave  and  shout  over  it,  and  cry  out,  "  Oh, 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  1  "  And  I  hear 
a  shout  coming  up  from  the  grave ;  it  is  the 
shout  of  the  Conqueror,  of  Him  who  has 
been  down  and  measured  the  depth  of  it, 
of  my  Lord  and  Saviour  :  "  Because  I  live, 
you  shall  live  also."  Yes,  the  grave  has 
lost  its  victory.  The  grave  has  no  terror 
to  the  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  Gospel 
takes  that  enemy  out  of  the  way. 

SIN  PUT  AWAY. 

And  then  there  was  the  terrible  name  of 
sin.  I  thought  all  my  sins  would  be  blazed 
out  before  the  great  white  throne ;  that 
every  sin  committed  in  childhood  and  in 
secret,  and  every  secret  thought,  and  every 
evil  desire  would  be  just  blazed  out  before 
the  assembled  universe ;  that  everything 
done  in  the  dark  would  be  brought  to  light. 
But  thanks  be  to  God,  the  Gospel  tells  me 
my  sins  are  all  put  away  in  Christ.  Out  of 
love  to  my  soul,  He  has  taken  all  my  sins, 
and  cast  them  behind  His  back.  That  is  a 
safe  place  to  have  sin,  behind  God's  back. 
God  never  turns  back;  He  always  marches 
onward.  He  will  never  see  your  sins  if 
they  are  behind  Hi.  back.     That  is  one  of 


His  own  illustrations.  Out  of  love  to  my 
soul,  He  has  taken  all  my  sins  upon  Him. 
Not  a  part.  He  takes  them  all  out  of  the 
way.  There  is  no  condemnation  to  him 
that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  You  may  just  pile 
up  your  sins  till  they  rise  up  like  a  dark 
mountain,  and  then  multiply  them  by  ten 
thousand  for  those  you  cannot  think  of; 
and  after  you  have  tried  to  enumerate  all 
the  sins  you  have  ever  committed,  just  let 
me  bring  one  verse  in,  and  then  that  moun- 
tain will  melt  away  :  "  The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  His  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
The  blood  covers  the  sin. 

WHAT  GOD  CANNOT    DO. 

In  Ireland,  some  time  ago,  a  teacher 
asked  a  little  boy  if  there  was  anything  that 
God  could  not  dg  ;  and  the  little  fellow 
said,  "  Yes ;  He  cannot  see  my  sins  through 
the  blood  of  Christ."  That  is  just  what 
He  cannot  do.     The  blood  covers  them. 

Is  it  not  good  news  to  get  rid  of  your 
sin  ?  You  come  here  a  sinner,  and  if  you 
believe  the  Gospel  your  sins  are  taken 
away.  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  You  shall  be 
justified  from  all  things  ;  which  you  could 
not  by  the  law  of  Moses.  By  believing,  or 
by  receiving  the  Gospel,  Christ  becomes 
yours.  Only  think,  young  man ;  say,  think 
of  it.  You  just  are  invited  to  accept  of  the 
Gospel.  You  are  invited  to  make  an  ex- 
change ;  to  get  rid  of  all  your  sins,  and  to 
take  Christ  in  the  place  of  them.  Is  not 
that  wonderful .'  What  a  foolish  young 
man  you  will  be  not  to  make  the  bargain. 
The  Lord  says,  "  I  will  take  your  sins,  and 
give  you  Myself  in  the  place  of  them." 
But  a  great  many  say,  "  No  "  ;  and  just  hug 
the  sin  to  their  bosom.  May  God  help  you 
to  come  up,  sinner,  to-night,  and  receive 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  your  way,  your 
truth,  and  your  life  ! 

THE  FEAR  OF  JUDGMENT. 

There  is  another  name  which  used  to 
haunt  me  a  great  deal — the  great  Judgment 
Day.  I  used  to  think  that  was  a  terrible 
day  when  I  should  be  summoned  before 
God,  and  could  not  tell  till  then  whether  I 
should  have  a  seat  on  His  right  hand  or 
on  His  left.  Until  I  stood  before  the  great 
white  throne  of  judgment  I  could  not  tell 
whether  I  should  hear  the  voice  of  God 
saying,  "  Depart  from  Me,  ye  cursed,'^  or 
whether  God  would  say,  "  Enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  the  Lord."     But  the  Gospel  tells 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


97 


me  that  question  is  already  settled  :  "  There 
is  now  no  condemnation  to  him  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus."  Listen  to  this  verse  :  "Veri- 
ly, verily ;  "  and  when  you  see  that  word 
"  Verily,  verily "  in  Scripture,  you  may 
know  there  is  something  very  important 
coming.  It  means,  "  Mind  what  I  tell 
you,"  or  "truly,  truly."  "Truly,  Iruly  I 
say  unto  you,  he  that  heareth  My  Word, 
and  believeth  on  Him  that  sent  Me,  hath  " 
— h-a-t-h,  hath  ;  lay  hold  of  that  little  word 
hath  to-night — "  hath  eternal  life,  and  shall 
not  come  into  condemnation  ;  "  that  means 
into  judgment — "  but  is  passed  from  death 
unto  life."  Well,  now,  I  am  not  coming  in- 
to judgment  for  sin.  The  question  has 
been  settled,  because  Christ  was  judged  for 
me,  and  died  in  my  stead,  and  I  go  free. 
Is  not  that  good  news  } 

A  PRAYER  FOR  MR.  MOODY. 

Why,  I  heard  of  a  man  praying  the  other 
day  that  I  might  lay  hold  of  eternal  life.  I 
could  not  have  said  Amen  to  that.  I  laid 
hold  of  eternal  life  nineteen  years  ago, 
when  I  was  converted.  What  is  the  gift 
of  God,  if  it  is  not  eternal  life  ?  And  that 
is  what  God  wants  to  give  to  everyone  in  this 
hall  to-night,  and  it  is  the  greatest  gift  that 
can  be  bestowed  on  anyone  down  here  in 
this  dark  world.  If  an  angel  just  came 
straight  from  the  throne  of  God  onto  this 
platform,  and  proclaimed  to  this  vast  as- 
sembly that  God  had  sent  him  here  to  offer 
to  this  audience  any  one  thing  they  might 
ask,  that  each  one  should  have  his  own 
petition  granted — what  would  be  the  cry 
in  this  audience  ?  There  would  be  but  one 
cry  coming  up  from  you,  and  the  shout 
would  make  heaven  ring :  "  Eternal  life ! 
eternal  life!"  Everything  would  float 
away  into  the  dim  past.  There  is  not  any- 
thing a  man  values  more  than  his  life.  Let 
a  man  worth  a  million  sterling  be  on  a 
wrecked  vessel,  and  if  he  could  just  save 
his  life  for  six  months  by  giving  that  mil- 
lion, he  would  give  it  in  an  instant.  There 
is  life  without  end.  The  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  life  ;  and  is  it  not  one  of  the  greatest 
marvels  that  men  have  to  stand  and  plead, 
and  pray  men  to  take  this  gift  ?  May  God 
help  you  to  take  it  now.  Do  not  listen  to 
Satan  any  longer.  Reach  out  the  hand  of 
faith  and  take  it  now.  Voung  man,  "  Be- 
lieve on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."  Trust  Him  to  save  you 
now,  and  then  there  will  be  no  condemna- 
tion. Death  will  have  lost  his  sting, 
the  grave  and  its  victory  will  be  safe  out  of 


the  way,  and  the  judgment  will  be  passed 
for  you. 

A   JUDGMENT  OF  MERCY. 

"  Oh,"  but  do  you  say,  "  what  do  you 
make  out  of  that  passage  in  Corinthians 
which  says,  '  Every  man  must  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  deeds  done  in  his  body'.!*"^ 
But  that  is  a  judgment  of  mercy,  it  is  not  a 
judgment  of  sin;  that  period  is  past  to  the 
believer.  Oh,  my  friends,  to-night  I  beg  of 
you,  do  not  go  out  of  this  hall  unsaved. 
Believe  the  Gospel  to-night.  Lay  hold  of 
eternal  life  while  God  is  offering  it  to  you. 
Be  reconciled  to-night.  Take  your  stand 
hard  by  the  cross,  and  you  are  saved  for 
time  and  eternity.  I  am  told  that  at  Rome, 
if  you  go  up  a  few  steps  on  your  hands  and 
knees,  that  is  nine  years  out  of  purgatory. 
If  you  take  one  step  now  you  are  out  of 
purgatory  for  time  and  eternity.  You  used 
to  have  two  steps  into  glory — out  of  self 
into  Christ,  out  of  Christ  into  glory.  But 
there  is  a  shorter  way  now  with  only  one 
step — out  of  self  into  glory,  and  you  are 
saved.  May  God  help  you  to  take  the 
step  now !  Flee,  my  friends,  to-night  to 
Calvary,  and  get  under  the  shadow  of  the 
cross. 

THE  FIRE  ON  THE  PRAIRIE. 

Out  in  our  western  country  in  the 
autumn,  when  men  go  hunting,  and  there 
has  not  been  for  months  any  rain,  some- 
times the  prairie  grass  catches  fire,  and 
there  comes  up  a  very  strong  wind,  and  the 
flames  just  roll  along  twenty  feet  high  over 
that  western  desert,  and  go  at  the  rate  of 
thirty  or  forty  miles  an  hour,  consuming 
man  and  beast.  When  the  frontiersmen 
see  it  coming,  what  do  they  do  ?  They 
know  they  cannot  run  as  fast  as  the  fire  can 
run.  Not  the  fleetest  horse  can  escape 
from  that  fire.  They  just  take  a  match  and 
light  the  grass  around  them  and  let  the 
flames  sweep,  and  then  they  get  into  the 
burnt  district  and  stand  safe.  They  hear 
the  flames  roar  as  they  come  along;  they 
see  death  coming  towards  them ;  but  they 
do  not  fear,  they  do  not  tremble,  because 
the  fire  has  peaced  over  the  place  where 
they  are,  and  there  is  no  danger.  There  is 
nothing  for  the  fire  to  burn.  There  is 
one  mountain  peak  that  the  wrath  of  God 
has  swept  over ;  that  is  Mount  Calvary, 
and  that  fire  spent  its  fury  upon  the  bosom 
of  the  Son  of  God.  Take  your  stand  here 
by  the  cross,  and  you  will  be  safe  for  time 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


98 

and  eternity.  Escape  for  your  life,  young 
man  and  young  lady ;  flee  to  yon  moun- 
tain, and  you  are  saved  this  very  minute. 
Oh,  may  God  bring  you  to  Calvary  to- 
night, under  the  shadow  of  the  cross  to- 
night! Then  let  death  and  the  grave 
come !  You  will  shout,  "  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest !  "  We  will  laugh  at  death  and 
glory  in  the  grave,  and  just  know  this  :  that 
we  are  safe,  sheltered  by  the  precious  blood 
of  the  Lamb.  There  is  no  condemnation 
to  him  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  God  wants 
to  pardon  every  one  here  to-night.  God 
is  coming  down  and  beseeching  you  to  take 
the  pardon.  Every  man  and  woman  here 
has  broken  the  law,  and  he  that  has  broken 
the  least  of  the  laws  is  guilty  of  all.  I  am 
sure  I  am  not  talking  to  one  man  or  woman 
in  this  audience  to-night  who  can  say  they 
have  not  broken  the  law. 

A  WORD  THE  DEVIL  FEARS. 

You  have  all  sinned  and  come  short  of 
the  glory  of  God,  but  God  comes  and  says, 
"  I  will  pardon  you.  Come,  now,  and  let 
us  reason  together."  "  Now  "  is  one  of  the 
words  of  the  Bible  the  devil  is  afraid  of. 
He  says,  *'  Do  not  be  in  a  hurry ;  there  is 
plenty  of  time ;  do  not  be  good  now."  He 
knows  the  influence  of  that  word  "  now." 
"  To-morrow  "  is  the  devil's  word.  The 
Lord's  word  is  "  now."  God  says,  "  Come, 
now,  and  let  us  reason  together.  Though 
your  sins  are  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  white 
as  snow.  Though  they  be  red  as  crimson, 
I  will  make  them  as  wool."  Scarlet  and 
crimson  are  two  fast  colors  ;  you  would  not 
get  the  color  out  without  destroying  the 
garment.  God  says,  "  Though  your  sins 
are  as  scarlet  and  crimson,  I  will  make 
them  as  wool  and  snow.  I  will  do  it." 
That  is  the  way  God  reasons.  Heputs  the 
pardon  in  the  face  of  the  sinner  the  first 
thing.  That  is  a  queer  way  of  reasoning, 
but  God's  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts ; 
and  so,  my  friends,  to-night,  if  you  want  to 
be  saved,  the  Lord  says  He  will  pardon 
you. 

THE  GOVERNOR  IN  THE  CONDEMNED  CELL. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  Pennsylvania  had 
a  Christian  Governor,  there  was  a  young 
man  down  in  one  of  the  counties  who  was 
arrested  for  murder.  He  was  brought  be- 
fore the  Court,  tried,  found  guilty,  and 
sentenced  to  death.  His  friends  thought 
there  would  be  no  trouble  in  getting  a 
reprieve  or  pardon.    Because  the  Governor 


was  a  Christian  man  they  thought  he  would 
not  sign  the  death  warrant.  But  he  signed 
it.  They  called  on  the  Governor  and  begged 
of  him  to  pardon  the  young  man.  But  the 
Governor  said, "  No ;  the  law  must  take  its 
course,  and  the  man  must  die."  I  think  the 
mother  of  the  young  man  called  on  the  Gov- 
ernor and  plead  with  him  ;  but  the  Governor 
stood  firm  and  said,  "No;  the  man  must  die." 
A  few  days  before  the  man  was  executed, 
the  Governor  took  the  train  to  the  county 
where  the  man  was  imprisoned.  He  went 
to  the  sheriff  of  the  county  and  said  to  him, 
"  I  wish  you  to  take  me  to  that  man's  cell, 
and  leave  me  alone  with  him  a  little  while ; 
and  do  not  tell  him  who  I  am  till  I 
am  gone."  The  Governor  went  to  the 
prison  and  talked  to  the  young  man  about 
his  soul,  and  told  him  that  although  he  was 
condemned  by  man  to  be  executed,  God 
would  have  mercy  upon  him  and  save  him, 
if  he  would  accept  pardon  from  God.  He 
preached  Christ,  and  told  him  how  Christ 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  sinners ;  and, 
having  explained  as  he  best  knew  how  the 
plan  of  salvation,  he  got  down  and  prayed, 
and  after  praying  he  shook  hands  with  him 
and  bade  him  farewell.  Some  time  after 
the  sheriff  passed  by  the  condemned  man's 
cell,  and  he  called  him  to  the  door  of  the 
cell,  and  said,  "  Who  was  that  man  that 
talked  and  prayed  with  me  so  kindly.?" 
The  sheriff  said,  "  That  was  Governor  Pol- 
lock." The  man  turned  deadly  pale,  and 
he  threw  up  both  his  hands  and  said,  "  Was 
that  Governor  Pollock .?  was  that  kind- 
hearted  man  the  Governor.?  Oh,  sheriff, 
why  did  you  not  tell  me .?  If  I  had  kn©wn 
that  was  the  Governor  I  would  have  fell  at 
his  feet  and  asked  for  pardon  ;  I  would 
have  plead  for  pardon  and  for  my  life.  Oh, 
sir,  the  Governor  has  been  here,  and  I  did 
not  know  it."  Sinner,  I  have  got  good 
news  to  tell  you.  There  is  One  greater 
than  the  Governor  here  to-night,  and  He 
wants  to  pardon  every  one.  He  does  not 
want  you  to  go  out  from  here  to-night  con- 
demned. He  wants  to  bring  you  from 
under  condemnation  ;  to  pardon  every  soul 
here.  Will  you  have  the  pardon,  or  will 
you  despise  the  gift  of  God  1  Will  you 
despise  the  mercy  of  God  and  His  offer  of 
mercy .?  Oh,  this  night,  while  God  is  be- 
seeching you  to  be  reconciled,  let  me  join 
with  your  praying  mother,  with  your  pray- 
ing father,  with  your  godly  minister,  with 
your  Sabbath-school  teacher,  and  all  your 
praying  friends  ;  let  me  join  my  voice  with 
theirs  to  plead  with  you  to-night  to  be  re- 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


99 


conciled.  Make  up  your  mind  now,  while 
I  am  speaking,  that  you  will  not  cross  your 
threshold  until  you  are  reconciled,  and 
there  will  be  joy  in  heaven  to-night  over 
your  decision.  Oh,  may  God  bring  hun- 
dreds to  a  decision  to-night.  May  Chris- 
tians keep  praying  for  this  one  thing.  Let 
there  be  a  united  prayer  to  God  now,  that 
thousands  may  be  reconciled  to  God  to- 
night, and  spend  eternity  in  yon  world  of 
light. 

An   Englishman  told  me  some  time  ago 

A  LITTLE  STORY  OF  RECONCILIATION, 

which  illustrates  this  truth.  We  want  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  reconciliation;  the 
good  news  that  God  is  reconciled.  God 
does  not  say  He  can  do,  but  He  has  done 
it.  You  must  accept  what  He  has  done. 
The  story  is  this  : — There  was  an  English- 
man who  had  an  only  son  ;  and  only  sons 
are  often  petted,  and  humored,  and  ruined. 
This  boy  became  very  headstrong,  and 
very  often  he  and  his  father  had  trouble. 
One  day  they  had  a  quarrel,  and  the  father 
was  very  angry,  and  so  was  the  son  ;  and 
the  father  said  he  wished  the  boy  would 
leave  home  and  never  come  back.  The 
boy  said  he  would  go,  and  would  not  come 
into  his  father's  house  again  till  he  sent  for 
him.  The  father  said  he  would  never  send 
for  him.  Well,  away  went  the  boy.  But 
when  a  father  gives  up  a  boy,  a  mother 
does  not.  You  mothers  will  understand 
that,  but  the  fathers  may  not.  You  know 
there  is  no  love  on  earth  so  strong  as  a 
mother's  love.  A  great  many  things  may 
separate  a  man  and  his  wife ;  a  great  many 
things  may  separate  a  father  from  a  son  ; 
but  there  is  nothing  in  the  wide  world  that 
can  ever  separate  a  true  mother  from  her 
child.  To  be  sure,  there  are  some  mothers 
that  have  drunk  so  much  liquor,  that  they 
have  drunk  up  all  their  affection.  But  I 
am  talking  about  a  true  mother ;  and  she 
vvould  not  cast  off  her  boy. 

THE  MOTHER  AND  THE  MURDERER. 

We  had  a  case  in  our  country  of  a  young 
man  who  had  committed  murder.  His 
father  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him, 
but  his  mother  went  down  into  his  cell 
every  day.  When  the  trial  came  on,  the 
papers  tried  to  write  him  down,  and  seemed 
determined  that  the  boy  should  be  put  to 
death.  Because  he  was  the  son  of  a 
wealthy  man,  they  thought  the  judges  and 
the  courts  would  have  mercy  upon  him  ; 
and  there  was  a  hissing,  as  it  were,  going 


up  from  all  America  against  that  young 
man. 

But  that  mother  was  not  ashamed  to  be 
seen  in  the  courts  with  him.  She  took  her 
seat  as  near  him  as  she  could.  She  would 
have  taken  the  boy's  place,  and  laid  down 
her  life  to  have  saved  her  boy.  Look  at  a 
mother  watching  her  sick  child  ;  she  would 
take  the  disease  out  of  the  child  into  her 
own  bosom  if  she  could.  When  the  boy 
was  found  guilty,  no  one  seemed  to  feel  the 
blow  as  that  mother.  A  mother  would, 
perhaps,  not  go  to  see  that  worthless  boy 
executed ;  but  if  she  could  get  that  body 
she  would  cover  it  with  kisses  ;  she  would 
go  to  the  grave  and  cover  it  with  flowers ; 
she  would  cherish  the  memory  of  that  boy 
as  long  as  she  lives.  Why,  a  mother's  love 
is  stronger  than  death  ;  death  cannot  tear 
down  a  mother's  love.  But,  my  friends,  a 
mother's  love  is  not  anything  to -be  com- 
pared with  God's  love.  You  never  saw  a 
mother  that  loved  her  child  as  God  loves 
you  sinners.  God  loves  you  thousands  of 
times  more  than  your  mother.  God  loves 
you  more  than  you  love  yourselves.  He 
has  His  heart  set  upon  you,  and  wants  to 
save  and  bless  you. 

Well,  the  mother  of  the  boy  who  had 
quarrelled  Avith  his  father  began  to  write 
and  plead  to  the  boy  to  write  to  his  father 
first,  and  his  father  would  forgive  him  ;  but 
the  boy  said,  "I  will  never  go  home  till 
father  asks  me."  She  plead  to  the  father,, 
but  the  father  said,  "  No,  I  will  never  ask; 
him." 

THE  mother's  dying  WISH, 

At  last  the  mother  came  down  to  her  sick 
bed,  broken-hearted,  and  when  she  was 
given  up  by  the  physicians  to  die,  the  hus- 
band, anxious  to  gratify  her  last  wish, 
wanted  to  know  if  there  was  not  anything 
he  could  do  for  her  before  she  died.  The 
mother  gave  him  a  look;  he  well  knew 
what  it  meant.  Then  she  said,  "  Yes, 
there  is  one  thing  you  can  do.  You  can 
send  for  my  boy.  That  is  the  only  wish 
on  earth  you  can  gratify.  If  you  do  not 
pity  him  and  love  him  when  I  am  dead 
and  gone,  who  will.''"  "  Well,"  said  the 
father,  "  I  will  send  word  to  him  that  you 
want  to  see  him."  "  No,"  she  says,  "you 
know  he  will  not  come  for  me.  If  ever  I 
see  him  you  must  send  for  him."  At  last 
the  father  went  to  his  office  and  wrote  a 
dispatch  in  his  own  name,  asking  the  boy 
to  come  home.  As  soon  as  he  got  the  in- 
vitation from  his  father  he  started  off  to 


lOO 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


see  his  dying  mother.  When  he  opened 
the  door  to  go  in  he  found  his  mother 
dying  and  his  father  by  the  bedside.  The 
father  heard  the  door  open,  and  saw  the 
boy,  but  instead  of  going  to  meet  him  he 
went  to  another  part  of  the  room,  and  re- 
fused to  speak  to  him.  His  mother  seized 
his  hand — how  she  had  longed  to  press  it ! 
She  kissed  him,  and  then  said,  "  Now,  my 
son,  just  speak  to  your  father.  You  speak 
first,  and  it  will  all  be  over."  But  the  boy 
said,  "  No,  mother,  I  will  not  speak  to  him 
until  he  speaks  to  me."  She  took  her 
husband's  hand  in  one  hand  and  the  boy's 
in  the  other,  and  spent  her  dying  moments 
and  strength  in  trying  to  bring  about  a  re- 
conciliation. Just  as  she  was  expiring,  she 
could  not  speak,  so  she  put  the  hand  of  the 
wayward  boy  into  the  hand  of  the  father, 
and  passed  away.  The  boy  looked  at  the 
mother,-  and  the  father  at  the  wife,  and  at 
last  the  father's  heart  broke,  and  he  opened 
his  arms,  and  took  that  boy  to  his  bosom, 
and  by  that  body  they  were  reconciled. 
Sinner,  that  is  only  a  faint  type,  a  poor  il- 
lustration, because  God  is  not  angry  with 
you.  God  gives  you  Christ,  and  I  bring 
I  you  to-night  to  the  dead  body  of  Christ.  I 
•  ask  you  to  look  at  the  wounds  in  His  hands 
and  feet,  and  the  wound  in  His  side.  My 
friends,  gaze  upon  His  five  wounds.  And 
I  ask  you,  "Will  you  not  be  reconciled  V 
When  He  left  heaven,  He  went  clear  down 
to  the  manger  that  He  might  get  hoM  of 
the  vilest  sinner,  and  put  the  hand  of  the 
wayward  prodigal  into  that  of  the  Father, 
and  He  died  that  you  and  I  might  be  re- 
conciled. If  you  take  my  advice  you  will 
not  go  out  of  this  hall  to-night  until  you 
are  reconciled.  "  Be  ye  reconciled."  Oh, 
this  Gospel  of  reconciliation  !  My  friends, 
come  home  to-night.  Your  father  wants 
you  to  come  home  to-night.  Say  as  the 
prcdigal  did  of  old,  "  I  will  arise  and  go 
to  my  father,"  and  there  will  be  joy  in 
heaven. 

VIII. 

THE  MASTER'S  PARTING  COMMIS- 
SION. 

"And  He  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  ever)'  creature. 
He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved, 
but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned," — 
Mark  ivi.  15,  16. 

Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.  I  wish  you  just 
to  mark  that  text.     It  does  not  say,   "  Go 


ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  elect;"  it  does  not  say,  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  rich,"  or  to  the  learned,  or  to  the  un- 
learned ;  but  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
And  I  am  one  of  those  men  that  believe 
that  God  means  Avhat  He  says ;  that  when 
God  says,  "  Go  and  preach  to  every  crea- 
ture," He  means  that  every  man  shall  be 
invited  to  the  Gospel  feast,  and  that  none 
need  to  be  excluded,  or  that  none  need  to 
stay  away.  And  if  a  man  does  not  come 
it  will  be  because  he  is  not  willing  to  ac- 
cept of  the  invitation.  As  Christ  says, 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  Me  that  ye  might 
have  Me."  It  is  not  because  men  cannot 
come  ;  it  is  because  they  will  not  come. 

SATAN    HINDERING. 

There  are  a  few  boys  who  want  to  go  out, 
disturbing  the  meeting,  but  if  the  friends 
will  just  be  kind  enough  to  give  me  their 
attention  we  will  go  back  to  the  text.  The 
devil  does  not  want  you  to  hear  the  text. 
That  is  just  what  gives  life,  the  Word  of 
God.  The  text  is  worth  more  than  the 
sermon.  Hear  the  proclamation,  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  be- 
lieveth not  shall  be  damned."  That  is 
plain  language,  is  it  not .?  It  is  so  plain, 
that  there  is  not  any  one  here  need  mis- 
understand it ;  and,  as  I  said  before, 
Christ  means  what  He  says.  He  sends  out 
His  messengers  to  proclaim  the  glad  tid- 
ings. Gethsemane  is  behind,  the  empty 
grave  is  behind ;  Calvary,  in  all  its  hor- 
rors, is  now  past ;  He  is  on  His  way  back 
home  to  take  His  seat  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father.  His  little  church  is  gathered 
round  Him — a  little  handful  of  men  ;  and 
He  breathes  upon  them  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  now  this  is  His  parting  commission, 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature."  I  thank  God 
for  that  text ;  I  thank  God  that  the  com- 
mission is  for  us  to  proclaim  it  to  every 
creature,  and  that  every  person  in  this  wide, 
wide  world  is  invited  to  the  Gospel  feast. 

THE  PROMISE  FOR  ALL. 

Every  one  of  God's  proclamations  are 
connected  with  that  word  "whosoever." 
I  think  it  was  Richard  Baxter  said  he 
thanked  God  for  that  "  whosoever." 
He  would  a  good  deal  rather  have 
that    word    "  whosoever "    than    Richard 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


lOI 


Baxter ;  for  if  it  was  Richard  Baxter,  he 
should  have  thought  it  was  some  other 
Richard  Baxter  who  had  lived  and  died  be- 
fore him ;  but  "  whosoever "  he  knew 
meant  him.  I  heard  of  a  woman  once  that 
thought  there  was  no  promise  in  the  Bible 
for  her;  she  thought  the  promises  were 
for  some  one  else,  not  for  her.  There  are 
a  good  many  of  these  people  in  the  world. 
They  think  it  is  too  good  to  be  true  that 
they  can  be  saved  for  nothing.  This 
woman  one  time  got  a  letter,  and  when  she 
opened  it  she  found  it  was  not  for  her  at 
all ;  it  was  sent  to  another  woman,  or  it 
was  meant  for  another  woman  that  had  her 
name ;  and  she  had  her  eyes  opened  to  the 
fact  that  if  she  should  find  some  promise  in 
the  Bible  directed  to  her,  she  would  not 
know  whether  it  meant  her  or  some  one 
else  that  bore  her  name.  But  you  know 
the  word  "  whosoever  "  means  every  one 
in  this  house ;  that  boy  down  there,  that 
grey-haired  man,  and  that  young  man  right 
in  the  blush  of  youth.  "  Go  ye  into  all  the 
world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature."  _  It  does  not  leave  out  one.  Go 
and  proclaim  the  glad  tidings  to  every  man. 


PARDON     FOR     THE     PRISONERS:    AN    OHIO 
STORY. 

I  was  in  Ohio  a  few  years  ago,  and  was 
invited  to  preach  in  the  State  prison. 
Eleven  hundred  convicts  were  brought  into 
the  chapel,  and  all  sat  in  front  of  me.  Af- 
ter I  had  got  through  the  preaching,  the 
chaplain  said  to  me  :  "  Moody,  I  want  to 
tell  you  of  a  scene  which  occurred  in  this 
room.  A  icvf  years  ago,  our  commission- 
ers went  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and 
got  him  to  promise  that  he  would  pardon 
five  men  for  good  behavior.  The  Governor 
consented,  with  this  understanding— that 
the  record  v/as  to  be  kept  in  secret,  and 
that  at  the  end  of  six  months  the  five  men 
highest  on  the  roll  should  receive  a  pardon, 
regardless  of  who  or  what  they  were  ;  if 
they  were  there  for  life  they  should  receive 
a  pardon.  At  the  end  of  six  months  the 
prisoners  were  all  brought  into  the  same 
chapel  where  I  had  been  preaching ;  and 
the  commissioners  came  up,  and  the  presi- 
dent of  the  commissioners  stood  upon  the 
platform,  and  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket, 
and  brought  out  some  papers,  and  said,  '  I 
hold  in  my  hand  pardons  for  five  men.'  " 
And  the  chaplain  told  me  he  never  wit- 
nessed anything  on  earth  like  it.  Every 
man  was   as    still   as    death;    many   were 


deadly  pale,  and  the  suspense  was  some- 
thing awful.     The  commissioner  went  on 
to  tell  them  how  they  had  got  the  pardon ; 
but  the  chaplain  said  to  the  commissioner, 
"  Before  you  make  your  speech,  read  out 
the  names.     This  suspense  is  awful."     So 
he  read  out  the  first  name,  "  Reuben  John- 
son will  come  and  get  his  pardon  ;"  and 
he  held  it  out,  but  no  one  came  forward.  He 
said  to  the  Governor,  "  Are  all  the  prisoners 
here .?"     The  Governor  told  him  they  were 
all  there.     Then  he  said  again,  "  Reuben 
Johnson  will  come  and  get  his  pardon.     It 
is  signed  and  sealed  by  the  Governor.    He 
is  a  free  man."     The  chaplain   told  me  he 
looked  right  down  where  Reuben  was,  and 
he  was  looking  all  round  to  see   the  fortu- 
nate man  who  had  got  his  pardon.     Finally 
the  chaplain  caught  his   eye,   and  he  said, 
"Reuben,    you    are    the  man."     Reuben 
turned   round  and  looked  behind  him  to 
see   where    Reuben    was.     The    chaplain 
said  the  second  time,  "  Reuben,  you  are 
the  man,"  and  the  second  time  he  looked 
round,    thinking    it  must    be   some   other 
Reuben.     Now,   men  do  not   believe   the 
Gospel  is  for  them.     They  think  it  is  too 
good,  and  pass  it   over  their  shoulders  to 
the   next  man.     But  you  are  the  man  to- 
night.      This  boy,   this  grey-haired  man, 
this    reporter,   and  every  creature  are  all 
invited.      Well,    the   chaplain    could    see 
where  Reuben  was,  and  he  had  to  say  three 
times,  "  Reuben,  come  and  get  your  par- 
don."    At  last   the  old  man  got    up  and 
came  along  down  the  hall,  trembling  from 
head  to  foot,  and  when  he  got  the  pardon 
he  looked  at  it  and  went  back  to  his  seat 
and  buried  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  the 
prisoners  heard  him  weep  to  think  he  was 
a  free  man.     When  the  prisoners  got  into 
the  ranks  to  go  back  to  the  cells  Beuben 
got  into  the  ranks  too,  and  the  chaplain 
had  to   call  to   him,  "  Reuben,  get  out  of 
the  ranks ;  you  are  a  free  man,  you  are  no 
longer  a  prisoner."     And  Reuben  stepped 
out  of  the    ranks.     That  is  the  way  men 
make  out  pardons.     They  make  out  par- 
dons for  good  character  or  good  behavior. 
But  God  makes  out  pardons  for  men  that 
have  not  got  any  character,  and  who  have 
•been  very,  very  bad.     He   has  got  a  par- 
don for  every  sinner  in  London  if  he  will 
take  it.     I  do  not  care  who  he  is  or  what  he 
is  like.     He  may  be  the   greatest  libertine 
that  ever  walked  the  streets  of  London,  or 
the  greatest  blackguard  that  ever  lived,  or 
the  greatest    drunkard,    or  thief,  or  vaga- 
bond ;  but  I  come  to-night  with  glad  tid- 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


ings,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture, "  and  whosoever  Avill,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."    Every  man  is  invited. 

A  GLASGOW  LADY  ANSWERED. 

A  lady  came  to  me  in  Glasgow,  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Moody,  you  are  always  saying,  *  Take, 
take,  take.'  Is  there  any  place  in  the  Bible 
where  it  says,  '  Take,'  or  is  it  only  a  word 
you  use  ?  I  have  been  looking  for  it  in  the 
Bible,  but  cannot  find  it."  I  said,  "It  is 
almost  the  last  word  in  the  Bible.  'And 
the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say.  Come.  And 
let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let 
him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whoso- 
ever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life 
freely.'"  God  says,  "Let  him  take." 
Who  can  stop  him  if  God  says  '*  Take  ?" 
All  the  devils  in  hell  cannot  stop 
a  poor  soul  from  taking  if  God  says 
"Take."  All  the  powers  on  earth  can- 
not hinder  him.  That  little  boy  can 
come,  and  all  the  powers  irjfernal  and 
all  the  powers  in  the  world  cannot 
hinder  him.  God  says  to-night  you  may 
take  the  water  of  life  freely.  It  is  offered 
free  to  every  one.  Every  one  can  be  saved 
if  they  will. 

ANECDOTE  OF  DR.  WILLIAM  ARNOT. 

When  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arnot,  that  is  now 
in  Edinburgh,  was  pastor  of  a  church  in 
Glasgow,  he  heard  of  a  woman  that  he 
knew  being  in  trouble.  She  could  not  pay 
her  debts  and  she  could  not  pay  her  rent ; 
so  he  went  round  to  her  house,  thinking 
he  would  help  her.  He  knocked  at  the 
door,  and  listened,  and  thought  he  heard 
some  one  inside ;  so  he  knocked  again,  but 
no  one  came.  He  knocked  the  third  time 
very  loud  and  listened,  but  did  not  hear 
any  one;  all  was  still.  After  waiting  some 
time,  he  made  a  great  noise,  and  at  last 
left  the  house.  Some  few  days  after,  he 
met  the  woman  in  the  street,  and  he  said 
to  her,  "  I  was  round  at  your  house  the 
other  day.  I  heard  you  were  in  trouble, 
and  could  not  pay  your  rent,  and  I  went 
to  help  you."  The  woman  said,  "Was 
that  you .''  I  was  in  the  house  all  the  time, 
but  I  thought  it  was  the  landlord  come  for 
the  rent,  and  as  I  had  not  got  the  money, 
I  kept  the  door  locked."  That  woman 
represents  a  sinner.  A  sinner  thinks  God 
is  coming  to  demand  something.  Instead 
of  that,  God  comes  to  give  and  to  bless. 
Christ  comes  to  pay  the  debt.  Christ 
comes   to   pay  the    rent.      You    all    owe 


God  a  debt  you  cannot  pay;  and  the 
Gospel  is  that  Christ  comes  and  offers  to 
pay  it  for  you.  You  had  better  pull  back 
the  bolt  and  let  Him  in  to-night. 

A  DUBLIN  DOOR  AND  THE  SINNER's  HEART. 

When  we  were  in  Dublin,  I  went  out 
one  morning  to  an  early  meeting,  and  I 
found  the  servants  had  not  opened  the 
front  door.  So  I  pulled  back  a  bolt,  but 
I  could  not  get  the  door  open.  Then  I 
turned  a  key,  but  the  door  would  not  open. 
Then  I  found  there  was  another  bolt  at 
the  top,  then  I  found  there  was  another  bolt 
at  the  bottom.  Still  the  door  Avould  not 
open.  Then  I  found  there  was  a  bar,  and 
then  I  found  a  night-lock.  I  found  there 
were  five  or  six  different  fastenings.  I  am 
afraid  that  door  represents  every  signer's 
heart.  The  door  of  his  heart  is  double- 
locked,  double-bolted,  and  double-barred. 
Oh,  my  friends,  pull  back  the  bolts  to-night, 
and  let  the  King  of  glory  in  !  He  wants 
to  bless  you ;  He  wants  to  pay  the  debt ; 
He  wants  to  cancel  the  debt;  He  wants 
you  to  be  reconciled ;  He  wants  you  to  be 
saved.  He  does  not  wish  the  death  of 
any,  but  that  all  may  turn  unto  Him  and 
live.  What  said  the  angels  to  those  shep- 
herds on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  ?  "  Be- 
hold, I  bring  unto  you  good  tidings  of  great 
joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For 
unto  you  is  born  this  day,  in  the  city  of 
David,  a  Saviour."  Now,  I  contend  that 
men  can  hear  no  better  news  than  that — 
that  a  Saviour  has  been  given,  and  that 
God  wants  to  save  men ;  not  that  men 
shall  be  lost,  not  that  men  shall  perish,  but 
that  a  Saviour  has  been  given  to  save  us 
from  our  sins.  Christ  did  not  come  into 
the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that 
the  world  through  Him  might  be  saved. 
Look  at  Him  going  back  to  Nazareth ; 
what  did  He  do  when  He  turned  into  the 
synagogue  one  Sabbath .?  He  opened  the 
book  at  the  place  where  it  is  written,  "  The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  Me ;  because 
He  hath  anointed  Me  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  poor ;  He  hath  sent  Me  to  heal 
the  broken-hearted."  My  friends,  think 
of  the  broken  hearts  in  London;  and 
Christ  says  He  is  come  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted. "  He  hath  sent  Me  to  heal  the' 
broken-hearted,  to  proclaim  liberty  to  the 
captive."  Think,  you  poor  drunkards  in 
London,  slaves  to  the  infernal  cup,  slaves 
to  strong  drink.  I  bring  you  good  news 
to-night.     The  Son  of  God  can  set  your 


SERMOJVS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


103 


soul  free,  and  can  make  you  free  men.  He 
says  :  "He  hath  sent  Me  to  proclaim  lib- 
erty to  the  captive,  sight  to  the  blind,  lib- 
erty to  them  that  are  bruised,  and  to  pro- 
claim the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 
Is  not  that  good  news  ?  Christ  was  anoint- 
ed for  that  purpose.  God  sent  Him  to 
proclaim  the  glad  tidings.  I  would  to 
God  that  every  man  in  this  vast  assembly 
would  believe  the  Gospel  and*  be  saved  ! 
Oh,  that  you  would  just  receive  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  your  way,  your  truth,  and  your 
life.  All  you  have  to  do  is  just  to  take 
Him. 

ALL  THE  SINNER  HAS  TO  DO. 

This  afternoon  in  the  inquiry-room  there 
were  a  great  many  that  came  up  to  in- 
quire what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  A 
young  lady  among  the  number  said  to  me, 
'*  Mr.  Moody,  I  want  to  be  saved.  I  wish 
you  would  tell  me  how."  The  tears 
trickled  down  her  cheeks,  and  she  said, 
"  You  do  not  know  how  I  want  to 
be  saved!"  I  said,  "My  friend,  you 
would  know  how  to  take  a  gift,  would  not 
you }  If  I  offered  you  my  Bible,  you 
would  know  how  to  take  it,  would  not 
you.?"  "Yes,  sir,"  she  said,  "  I  should." 
"  Salvation  is  a  gift,  and  just  as  you  would 
take  a  present,  you  take  God's  present. 
And  God's  present  to  you  is  His  Son  from 
heaven.  You  just  receive  Him."  She 
said,  "  Mr.  Moody,  is  that  all  I  have  got  to 
do  1"  I  said,  "  Yes,  that  is  all  you  can  do. 
You  receive  Him  first."  "  But,"  said  she, 
"  have  not  I  to  ask  for  Him .?"  I  said, 
"  You  need  not  do  it.  What  is  the  use  of 
asking  for  what  God  is  offering.?"  Suppose 
I  say  to  this  boy  here, "  Look  here,  I  want 
to  give  you  my  Bible,"  and  the  boy  says, 
"  I  wish  you  would  make  me  a  present  of 
the  Bible.  Will  you  give  it  me.?"  And  I 
say,  "  Take  it,  take  it,"  and  he  keeps  asking 
for  it.  Now,  God  is  behind  every  sinner 
offering  salvation.  You  have  nothing  to 
do  but  to  take  it.  Who  will  take  salvation 
as  a  gift  to-night  1 

HELPING  HIMSELF  IN  THE  ORCHARD. 

r  I  was  out  on  the  Pacific  coast  in  California, 
two  or  three  years  ago,  and  I  was  the  guest 
of  a  man  that  had  a  large  vineyard  and  a 
large  orchard.  One  day  he  said  to  me, 
"  Moody,  while  you  are  my  guest,  I  want 
you  to  make  yourself  perfectly  happy,  and 
if  there  is  anything  in  the  orchard  or  in  the 
vineyard  you   would  like,  help  yourself." 


Well,  when  1  wanted  an  orange,  1  did  not 
go  to  an  orange-tree  and  pray  the  oranges 
to  fall  into  my  pocket,  but  I  walked  i;p  to 
a  tree,  reached  out  my  hand,  and  took  the 
oranges.  He  said,  "  Take,"  and  I  took. 
God  says  "  Take,"  and  you  do  it.  God 
says,  "  There  is  my  Son."  "  The  wages  of 
sin  is  death ;  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal 
life."     Who  will  take  it  now .? 

A  DEVICE  OF  SATAN. 

Satan  is  down  in  the  audience  working 
while  I  am  preaching.  Satan  says,  "  If  you 
take  it,  you  will  have  to  give  up  too  much. 
Do  not  you  let  that  man  get  a  power  over 
you  to-night.  Do  not  believe  ';hat  man. 
If  you  become  a  Christian,  you  have  got 
to  give  up  so  much."  Let  me  say — mark 
the  words — God  does  not  come  here  and 
ask  any  man  to  give  up  anything.  The 
first  thing  God  wants  you  to  do  is  to  take ; 
and  after  you  have  taken  the  new  life,  and 
got  a  new  nature,  old  things  pass  away, 
and  all  things  become  new.  I  tried  to 
stop  swearing  before  I  was  converted,  and 
the  more  I  tried  the  worse  I  became.  But 
one  night,  when  Jesus  met  me,  I  just  re- 
ceived Him,  and  I  have  had  no  desire  to 
It    stopped    itself — I    got 

The  things  I  once 
and   the  things  I  once 

There  was  a  perfect 
change,  a  revolution  in  my  life,  when  God 
revealed  Himself  to  me ;  and  since  then 
His  yoke  is  easy  and  His  burden  is  light. 
God  does  not  come  down  and  say, 
"  Young  man,  give  up  this  and  that;"  but 
he  says,  "There  is  my  Son;  take  Him." 
There  is  the  gift,  and  I  tell  you  that  there 
is  not  anything  that  God  can  give  us  that  is 
worth  more  than  the  gift  of  eternal  life.  It 
you  were  allowed  to  choose  yourself,  you 
Would  ask  for  eternal  life.  You  would 
rather  have  that  gift  than  any  other ;  and 
that  is  the  gift  that  God  wants  to  bestow 
upon  you.  God  says,  "  Here  it  is  all  in 
my  Son.  If  you  receive  Him  here,  he  will 
'  receive  *  you  yonder.  If  you  reject 
Him  here  He  will  reject  you  yonder."  He 
came  unto  His  own,  the  Jews,  and  they 
would  not  have  Him.  "  His  own  received 
Him  not ;  but  as  many  as  received  Him, 
to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His 
name."  Now,  the  moment  you  receive 
Christ,  you  get  power  to  serve  Him  ;  the 
moment  you  receive  the  Lord  Jesus,  you 
get  power  to  live  for  Him. 


swear  smce. 
something,  better, 
loved  I  now  hate ; 
hated  I  now  love. 


A 


I04 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


DOMESTIC    ANECDOTE. 

My  wife  had  a  schoolmate  that  had  a  lit- 
tle boy  about  four  years  old,  and  this  beau- 
tiful little  boy  was  one  day  cutting  a  piece 
of  string  with  a  penknife,  and  the  knife 
went  into  his  eye  and  put  it  out.  My 
wife  was  therefore  very  careful  about  the 
children  not  using  a  knife.  But  if  you  tell 
a  child  he  shall  not  have  a  thing,  that  is 
the  very  thing  he  wants.  A  good  many 
people  say  they  would  like  to  have  had 
Adam's  chance.  If  they  had  they  would 
have  gone  down  like  Adam.  If  you  put  a 
thousand  children  into  this  building  with 
a  great  number  of  toys,  and  put  one  little 
thing  in  a  room  and  shut  it  up,  and  if  you 
said  to  the  children,  "  I  shall  be  gone  a  itw 
hours;  do  not  go  near  that  room,"  that  is 
the  very  first  place  they  would  go  to.  They 
would  want  to  see  what  was  in  there.  If 
you  tell  a  child  he  shall  not  have  a  thing, 
that  is  the  very  thing  he  wants.  My  wife 
went  out  one  day,  and  my  litde  boy,  two 
years  old,  got  hold  of  a  pair  of  scissors. 
My  little  girl  knew  he  ought  not  to  have 
them,  and  she  went  to  him  and  tried  to  get 
them  away  ;  but  the  little  fellow  held  on  to 
the  scissors,  and  would  not  give  them  up. 
She  was  afraid  of  sticking  them  into  his 
eyes,  so  she  ran  off  to  another  room,  and 
got  an  orange,  and  came  running  in,  and 
held  it  up,  and  said,  "  Willie,  do  not  you 
want  the  orange.?"  and  the  little  fellow 
dropped  the  scissors,  and  went  for  the 
orange.  If  you  will  allow  me  the  illustra- 
tion, God  comes  here,  and  says,  "  Here  is 
my  Son,  take  Him."  He  saves  the  sinner  ; 
and  the  moment  we  get  Him,  these  things 
we  love  so  much  are  gone;  they  float  away 
into  the  dim  past.  Christ  is  worth  more 
than  all  the  world;  and  God  comes  and 
says,  "  Here  is  my  Son,  take  Him,  and  be- 
lieve on  Him."  And  the  moment  you  re- 
ceive Him,  you  get  power  over  the  flesh, 
the  world,  and  the  devil ;  and  you  do  not 
get  the  power  until  you  receive  life  from 
Christ,  until  you  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  May  God  help  you  to  believe  now, 
and  to  receive  the  Gospel  to-night !  "  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel to  every  creature."  May  every  man 
and  every  woman  in  this  room  tonight  be- 
lieve the  Gospel  and  be  saved ! 

THE  RICH    EVANGELIST   AND    THE  PEOPLE'S 
DEBTS. 

I  will  give  you  another  illustration,  for 
illustrations  are  better  than   dry  sermons. 


I  heard  of  an  Englishman  that  was  con- 
verted some  time  ago,  and  when  the  Lord 
converted  him,  he  had  a  great  desire  to  see 
every  man  converted ;  and  I  would  not 
give  much  for  that  man's  conversion  who 
did  not  have  that  desire.  This  man  Christ 
had  such  a  hold  upon,  that  he  wanted 
to  go  out  and  publish  the  good  tid- 
ings. So  he  went  into  one  town,  and 
gave  notice  that  he  would  preach  in  such 
a  place.  It  got  noised  round  that  the 
man  was  rich,  so  a  great  many  went 
to  see  him  out  of  curiosity.  He  had 
a  great  audience  the  first  night,  but, 
as  he  was  not  a  very  eloquent  man,  the 
people  did  not  get  interested.  Men  looked 
at  the  messenger  instead  of  the  message ; 
but  never  mind  the  messenger.  The  next 
night  hardly  any  one  was  there.  Then  he 
got  out  great  placards,  and  placarded  the 
town,  and  he  stated  that  if  any  man  in  that 
town  owed  any  debt,  if  they  would  come 
round  to  his  office  between  nine  and  twelve 
o'clock  on  a  certain  day,  he  would  pay 
the  debt.  Of  course  that  went  through 
the  town  like  wild-fire.  One  said  to  the 
other,  "  John,  do  you  believe  that .?  "  "  No, 
I  am  not  going  to  believe  that  any  stranger 
is  going  to  pay  our  debts."  Not  any  one 
believed  it,  although  there  were  a  good 
many,  no  doubt,  that  would  have  liked  to 
get  their  debts  paid.  Well,  the  day  came, 
and  at  nine  o'clock  the  man  was  there.  At 
ten  o'clock  none  had  come.  At  eleven 
o'clock  a  man  was  seen  walking  up  and 
down,  looking  over  his  shoulder,  and  finally 
he  stuck  his  head  in  the  door  and  said,  "Is 
it  true  that  you  will  pay  any  man's  debt  1  " 
"  Yes  ;  do  you  owe  any  debt  ?  "  "  Yes." 
"  Have  you  brought  the  necessary 
papers  ?  "  The  placard  had  told  them 
what  to  do.  "Yes."  So  the  man  drew  a 
cheque  and  paid  the  other's  debt,  and  he 
kept  him  and  talked  with  him  till  twelve 
o'clock;  and  before  twelve  o'clock  tv/o 
other  men  came  and  got  their  debts  paid. 
At  twelve  o'clock  that  man  let  them  out, 
and  the  people  outside  said  to  them,  "  He 
paid  your  debts,  did  not  he  ?  "  "  Yes,  he 
did,"  they  answered.  But  the  people 
laughed  and  made  fun  of  them,  and  would 
not  believe  it  till  they  pulled  out  the  cheque, 
and  said,  "  There  it  is.  He  has  paid  all 
the  debt."  And  then  the  people  said, 
"  What  fools  we  were  we  did  not  go  in  and 
ge't  our  debts  paid  !  "  But  they  could  not ; 
it  was  too  late ;  the  door  was  closed  ;  the 
time  was  up.  And  then  the  man  as  before 
preached  the   Gospel,   and    great  crowds 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


105 


went  to  hear  him ;  and  he  said,  "  Novv,  my 
friends,  that  is  what  God  wants  to  do,  but 
you  will  not  let  Him  do  it.  Christ  came 
to  pay  our  debts,  and  that  is  the  Gospel." 
I  could  not  have  a  better  illustration  of  the 
Gospel  than  that.  Every  man  owes  God  a 
debt  he  cannot  pay.  Would  you  insult  the 
"iAlmighty  by  offering  the  fruits  of  this  frail 
body  to  atone  for  sin  ?  Isaiah  says,  "  He 
was  wounded  for  our  transgressions;  He 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquity ;  the  chastise- 
ment of  our  peace  was  upon  Him  ;  and 
with  His  stripes  we  are  healed."  Paul 
says  "  I  declare  unto  you  the  Gospel ; 
Christ  died  for  our  sins,  according  to  the 
Scriptures."  My  friends,  will  you  believe 
the  Gospel  to-night,  and  be  saved  ? 

Christ's  commission  to  peter, 

I  can  imagine  when  Christ  said  to  the 
little  band  around  Him,  "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel,"  Peter 
said,  "  Lord,  do  you  really  mean  that  we 
are  to  go  back  to  Jerusalem  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  those  men  that  murdered  you  }  " 
"  Yes,"  said  Christ  to  Peter  ;  "  go,  hunt  up 
that  man  that  spit  in  My  face,  and  tell  him 
he  shall  have  a  seat  in  My  kingdom  if  he 
will  accept  of  salvation  as  a  gift.  Yes, 
Peter,  go,  hunt  up  that  man  that  made  that 
cruel  crown  of  thorns  and  placed  it  on  My 
brow,  and  tell  him  I  will  have  a  crown 
ready  for  him  when  he  comes  into  My 
kingdom,  and  no  thorns  in  it.  I  will  give 
him  a  crown  of  life.  Hunt  up  that  man 
that  took  a  reed  and  brought  it  down  over 
the  cruel  thorns,  driving  them  into  My 
brow,  and  tell  him  I  will  put  a  sceptre  in 
his  hand,  and  he  shall  rule  over  the  nations 
of  the  earth  if  he  will  accept  salvation. 
Hunt  up  that  man  that  spit  in  my  face,  and 
tell  him  I  forgive  him  freely,  and  will  have 
a  crown  ready  for  him  if  he  will  accept  of 
salvation.  Peter,  go  hunt  up  that  man 
that  drove  the  spear  into  my  side,  and  tell 
him  there  is  a  nearer  way  to  my  heart  than 
that.  Tell  him  I  forgive  him  freely, 
and  that  he  can  be  saved  if  he  will  accept 
of  salvation  as  a  gift.  Hunt  up  the  men 
that  drove  the  nails  into  My  hands  and 
feet,  and  tell  them  I  forgive  them  freely, 
and  tell  them  they  shall  have  a  seat  in  My 
kingdom  if  they  will  accept  of  it.  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature."  Oh,  may  God  help 
you  to  hear  the  Gospel  to-night  and  to  be 
saved!  Christ  died  for  our  sins.  Think 
of  the   sins  represented  by  this  vast  body 


of  men.  But,  thanks  be  to  God,  they  can 
all  be  laid  on  His  Son  to-night  if  you  will 
lay  them  on  Him.  He  came  to  take  away 
the  sin  of  the  world.  Look  yonder !  see 
what  it  says  !  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
His  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  Look 
yonder !  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  May 
God  help  you  to  lift  your  eye  to  the  Lamb 
of  God  to-night !  Look,  sinner,  now ! 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  "  and  if  you  go 
out  of  this  world  unsaved,  it  will  be  your 
fault.  If  you  go  out  from  here  to-night 
without  Christ  as  your  Saviour,  it  will  be 
your  fault :  you  will  do  it  at  the  peril  of 
your  soul.  May  God  help  you  to  look  now 
and  live. 


IX. 

POPULAR  PRESENT-DAY  EXCUSES. 

To-night  I  am  going  to  call  your  at- 
tention to  the  same  subject  as  last  night, 
when  we  took  up  some  of  the  popular 
excuses  of  the  present  day.  We  had  time 
only  to  speak  of  a  few,  and  to-night  we  want 
to  follow  up  the  same  subject.  Our  friend 
has  been  singing  about  heaven,  the  home  of 
the  soul,  and  I  read  to  you  a  few  verses  in 
Revelations  about  that  upper  and  better 
world.  And  now  to-night  I  want  every 
one  in  this  audience  to  believe  that  they 
really  have  an  invitation  to  that  world  of 
light.  It  is  God  that  is  inviting  every  soul 
within  this  assembly  to  that  feast.  It  is 
not  an  invitation  of  mine,  it  is  not  a  text 
that  I  have  manufactured,  it  is  not  an  in- 
vitation that  is  got  up  by  man,  but  it  comes 
fi'om  the  living  God  Himself  to  every  soul 
here.  Every  person  here  is  invited  to  the 
feast,  and  now  the  question  comes,  "  What 
are  you  going  to  do  with  the  invitation.?" 

THE  young  man  FROM  BRADFORD. 

I   was   made  glad  to-day  to  hear  of  a 
young  man  that  came  to  this  meeting  last 
night.    He  came  up  from  Bradford,  and  as  • 
he  came  into  this  hall,  he  said,  "  If  Christ 
can  be  found  here,  I  am   determined  to  - 
have  Him  ;"  and  the  moment  there  was  an. 
opportunity  given  to  go  into  the  inquiry-- 
room,  that  young  man  went  in,  and  after  a,: 
friend  had  talked  with  him  some  rime,  to  - 
all  human  appearance  he  accepted  Christ, . 
and  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.     I  hopi 
there  will  be  many  such  here  to-night,  who  ■ 
have  said  to  themselves,  "  If  Christ  can  be 


io6 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


found  here  to-night,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
I'll  find  Him."  If  there  are  ;jny  such,  let 
me  say  to  you,  "  My  friends,  I  bring  an  in- 
vitation to  each  one  of  you  to  be  present 
at  the  marriage  supper  of  God's  beloved 
Son." 

And  now,  are  you  going  to  join  with  the 
three  men  that  we  were  speaking  of  last 
night,  and  say,  "  I  pray  thee,  have  me  ex- 
cused.-'"    Are  you  going  to  make  excuse.? 

THE  SCEPTICS  AND  INFIDELS  OF  LONDON. 

I  want  to  come  to  some  of  the  excuses 
that  we  meet  with  every  night  in  the  in- 
quiry-room, and  the  excuse  I  have  met  in 
London,  more  perhaps  than  any  other — for 
I  have  found  more  sceptics  and  more  infi- 
dels the  few  days  I  have  been  in  London 
than  in  any  place  I  was  ever  in ;  young 
men  coming  into  the  inquiry-room  full  of 
infidelity,  darkness,  and  doubt,  and  one  of 
the  greatest  objections  they  have ;  one  of 
the  excuses  that  they  are  hiding  behind,  is 
the  Bible.  They  are  giving  that  as  the  reason 
why  they  do  not  accept  the  invitation  to  be 
at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb.  Now, 
I  want  to  say  I  never  met  a  sceptic  or  in- 
fidel .who  had  read  the  Bible  through.  I 
heard  a  man  say  the  other  day  to  another 
man,  "  Have  you  read  such  a  book .?" 
"Yes."  "  Well,  what  is  your  opinion  of 
it.''"  "  Well,  I  only  read  it  through  once; 
I  WQuld  not  like  to  give  my  opinion  with- 
out reading  it  more  carefully."  But  men 
can  give  their  opinion  about  God's  Book 
without  reading  it.  They  read  a  chapter 
here  and  there,  and  say,  "  Oh,  the  Book  is 
so  dark  and  mysterious  ;"  and  because  they 
cannot  understand  it  by  reading  a  few  chap- 
ters, they  condemn  the  whole  of  it.  The 
AVord  of  God  tells  us  plainly  that  the 
natural  man  cannot  understand  spiritual 
things.  It  is  a  spiritual  book,  and  speaks 
of  spiritual  things,  and  a  man  must  be  born 
of  the  Spirit  before  he  can  understand  the 
Bible.  What  seems  very  dark  and  myste- 
rious to  you  now  will  all  be  light  and  clear 
when  ye  are  born  of  the  Spirit. 

THE  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

I  can  remember  some  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture that  were  very  dark  and  mysterious  to 
me  when  I  was  converted,  but  now  they 
are  very  clear.  I  can  remember  things 
that  ten  years  ago  were  very  dark  and  mys- 
terious, but  as  I  have  gone  on  I  understand 
them  better,  and  the  more  we  know  of  God, 
and   the   more  we   study  the   Word,   the 


plainer  it  will  become ;  but  the  idea  of  an 
unconverted  man  is  to  take  up  the  Bible 
and  condemn  it  before  he  has  been  born  of 
the  Spirit.  Why,  when  a  man  is  bom  of 
the  Spirit  then  he  will  understand  the 
Word  of  God,  and  not  before.  You  say, 
"  If  that  is  so,  how  am  I  to  understand  how 
to  be  saved .?"  I  will  tell  you.  When  God 
puts  salvation  before  a  sinner  He  puts  it 
so  plain  that  a  man  that  runs  can  read,  and 
a  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  need  not 
err  therein.  There  are  a  great  many  things 
in  the  Book  which  are  dark  and  mysteri- 
ous, but  when  it  comes  to  the  plan  of  sal- 
vation God  has  put  it  so  plain  that  that 
little  girl  ten  years  old  can  understand  it  if 
she  will.  You  understand  what  it  is  to 
come.  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor." 
You  know  what  it  is  to  take  a  gift.  ''  He 
came  unto  His  own,  and  His  own  received 
Him  not.  But  as  many  as  received  Him, 
to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God."  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death,  but 
the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  That  is 
taking  a  gift.  You  know  what  it  is  ^o  be- 
lieve in  a  man ;  well,  "  believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
You  know  what  it  is  to  put  trust  and  con- 
fidence in  a  man  ;  now,  put  your  trust  and 
confidence  in  the  living  God,  and  you  are 
saved.  You  are  saved  by  casting  yourself 
unreservedly  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
When  God  puts  salvation  before  a  man  He 
puts  it  so  plain  and  simple  that  if  he  is 
willing   to  come  as  a  little  child  he  can 


THE  CHILD  AT  SCHOOL. 

Supposing  I  should  send  my  little  boy, 
five  years  old,  to  school  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, and  when  he  came  home  I  should  say, 
"  Can  you  read,  write,  spell }  Do  you  un- 
derstand all  about  arithmetic,  geometry, 
algebra.?"  The  little  fellow  would  look  at 
me,  and  say,  "  Why,  what  do  you  talk  in 
that  way  for  ?  I  have  been  trying  all  day 
to  learn  the  A  B  C"  Supposing  I  replied, 
"  If  you  have  not  finished  your  education 
you  need  not  go  to  the  school  any  more ;" 
why,  what  would  you  say }  You  would 
say,  "  Moody  has  gone  mad."  Well,  there 
is  about  as  much  sense  in  that  as  in  the 
way  that  infidels  talk  about  the  Bible. 
They  take  it  up,  read  a  chapter,  and  say, 
"  Oh,  it  is  so  dark  and  mysterious  we  can- 
not understand  it."  This  blessed  Book  is 
given  to  be  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and  a  light 
to  our  path,  to  guide  the  way  to  those 
eternal  mansions.     It  never  was  given  to 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


107 


keep  men  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
That  is  the  devil's  work,  trying  to  make 
you  believe  the  Word  of  God  is  not  true. 
I  tell  you  the  only  way  we  can  overcome 
*the  enemy  of  our  soul  is  by  the  written 
Word  of  God,  and  the  devil  knows  that, 
and  so  he  comes  up  and  says,  "It  is  full  of 
lies,  it  is  dark  and  mysterious,  it  contradicts 
itself;  don't  you  believe  it."  He  knows 
the  moment  a  man  goes  to  the  Word  of 
God  and  believes  it,  he  gets  liberty  to  his 
soul,  and  he  gets  beyond  Satan's  reach  ;  he 
gets  a  weapon  in  his  hand  with  which  to 
conquer  the  devil ;  he  overcomes  the 
enemy  of  his  salvation.  The  devil  does 
not  want  you  to  find  that  out,  and  whispers 
this  lie,  and  you  believe  it  rather  than  the 
Word  of  God.  Young  man,  your  mother 
is  right,  the  Bible  is  true,  and  you  had  bet- 
ter take  that. 

WHAT  ENGLAND  OWES   TO  THE  BIBLE. 

Why,  these  infidels  that  want  to  take 
away  the  Bible  from  us,  what  are  they 
going  to  give  us  in  its  place  ?  What  has 
made  England  but  the  Word  of  God.''  I 
heard  a  most  eloquent  man  in  America  a 
few  years  ago  say,  "  You  look  back  in  his- 
tory a  few  years  and  you  see  England  and 
France  moving  along  abreast  in  the  march 
of  nations.  France  closed  the  Bible  and 
would  not  give  it  to  its  people.  England 
opened  the  Bible,  and  what  is  the  result .-' 
Why,  the  English  language  is  spoken  round 
the  world,  and  the  sun  never  sets  upon  the 
Queen's  dominions."  And  look  and  see 
how  the  English  language  has  gone  round 
the  world.  See  what  the  Bible  has  done 
for  England,  and  look  and  see  what  has  be- 
come of  France.  Poor  France  closed  its 
Bible,  and  it  has  gone  down,  and  every  na- 
tion that  puts  down  the  Bible  has  to  go 
down,  and  every  nation  that  exalts  the 
Bible  and  lifts  it  up,  God  lifts  it  up  and 
blesses  them.  Oh,  my  friends,  let  us  cling 
close  to  the  Bible.  What  are  you  going  to 
do  without  it }  What  are  you  going  to  give 
us  in  the  place  of  it  "i  Do  not  give  that  for 
an  excuse.  Keep  this  in  mind :  you  will 
never  stand  up  before  the  bar  of  God  and 
say  the  Bible  kept  you  out  of  the  kingdom. 
It  may  sound  very  v/ell  here  now;  you  may 
be  satisfied  to  give  that  for  an  excuse  down 
here  in  the  Agricultural  Hall  to-night ;  you 
will  not  be  satisfied  to  give  that  in  the 
Courts  of  Heaven — in  fact,  you  never  will 
get  there ;  you  will  not  stand  up  in  the  great 
judgment  day  and  say  the  Bible  kept  you 
out  of  the  kingdom. 


HYPOCRITES    IN    THE   CHURCH. 

Then  there  is  another  class.  Some 
people  say,  "  I  have  not  any  doubt  about 
the  Word  of  God,  but  the  fact  is  that  there 
are  some  men  in  the  church  that  ought  not 
to  be  tliere;  therefore,  I  do  not  purpose  to 
go  into  the  church."  \  am  not  asking  you 
to  come  into  the  church — not  but  what  I 
believe  in  churches  ;  but  I  am  asking  you 
to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,  and 
am  inviting  you  to  this  feast,  and  we  will 
talk  about  the  church  by-and-by.  We 
want  you  to  come  to  Christ  first,  then  we 
will  talk  to  you  about  the  church.  But 
you  say,  here  are  some  hypocrites.  So 
there  are,  and  I  can  imagine  you  saying, 
"  Oh,  yes,  there  is  a  man  up  here  in  one  of 
the  churches  that  cheated  me  out  of  ^^5  a 
few  years  ago,  and  you  are  not  going  to 
catch  me  in  the  company  of  hypocrites." 
Well,  my  friend,  if  you  want  to  get  out  of 
the  company  of  hypocrites,  you  had  better 
get  out  of  the  world  as  quick  as  you  can- 
One  of  the  twelve  apostles  turned  out  to 
be  a  hypocrite,  and  there  is  no  doubt  there 
will  be  hypocrites  in  the  church  to  the  end 
of  time.  But  "  what  is  that  to  thee  .''"  says 
Christ  to  Peter ;"  follow  thou  Me."  We 
do  not  ask  you  to  follow  hypocrites,  we  ask 
you  to  follow  Christ ;  we  do  not  ask  you 
to  believe  in  hypocrites,  we  ask  you  to  be- 
lieve in  Christ.  Another  thing,  if  you  v/ant 
to  get  out  of  the  company  of  hypocrites 
you  had  better  make  haste  and  come  to 
Christ.  There  will  be  no  hypocrites  at  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb ;  they  will 
all  be  in  hell,  and  you  will  be  there  with 
them  if  you  do  not  make  haste  and  come 
to  Christ.  That  excuse  would  sound 
strange,  would  it  not .''  We  very  often  hear 
men  give  it  down  here,  but  it  would  sound 
very  strange  before  Jehovah,  a  man  saying, 
"  I  know  you  invited  me  to  be  at  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  your  Son,  but  I  did  not 
accept  it  because  I  knew  there  were  some 
hypocrites  that  professed  the  Gospel." 
Man  will  have  no  excuse  when  he  comes  to 
stand  before  God ;  his  mouth  will  be 
sealed. 

THE  PRESSURE  OF  BUSINESS. 

There  is  another  class  who  say,  "  I  know 
there  are  hypocrites,  but  they  don't  have 
any  influence  over  me,"  and  if  I  could  go 
to  the  door  as  you  go  out  to-night,  and  take 
you  by  the  hand  and  say,  "  My  friend,  why 
not  accept  of  the  invitation  to-ni^ht.?"  you 
would  say,  "  I  pray  to  be  excused  to-night, 


io8 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


I  have  not  time.  I  have  got  some  very 
pressing  business  to-morrow  morning  to 
attend  to,  and  I  have  to  go  home  to  bed  as 
quick  as  possible,  to  get  my  night's  rest. 
You  will  have  to  excuse  me ;"  and  the 
mothers  here  would  say,  "  I  have  to  go 
home  and  put  the  children  to  bed,  you  will 
have  to  excuse  me  ; "  "  very  pressing 
business;"  "have  no  time."  Thousands 
of  men  in  London  say  they  have  not 
time.  Thanks  be  to  God,  it  don't  take 
time,  it  takes  decision.  But  what  have 
you  done  with  all  the  time  God  has  given 
you?  Your  locks  are  turning  grey,  your 
eye  is  growing  dim,  and  that  temple  of 
your  body  is  coming  down  —  what  have 
you  done  with  all  those  years.?  Is  it  true 
you  have  not  time.?  What  did  you  do 
with  the  365  days  last  year.?  No  time 
during  those  365  days  —  what  have  you 
done  with  all  those  hours.?-  Have  not  you 
had.  time  to  accept  of  this  invitation .? 
Why,  men  spend  15  or  20  years  to  get  an 
education  that  they  may  go  out  to  earn  a 
living  for  this  frail  body,  that  is  soon  to  be 
eaten  up  with  worms,  or  5  years  to  learn  a 
trade  that  they  may  earn  a  living ;  and  yet 
they  have  not  five  minutes  to  seek  their 
souls'  salvation !  You  "  have  no  time." 
Is  it  true  .?  You  know  it  is  a  lie,  and  if 
you  go  out  to-night  unsaved  it  will  not  be 
because  you  have  not  time,  but  because 
you  won't  accept  the  invitation.  God 
says,  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom."  That  is 
the  first  thing  to  do.  Let  the  children  sit 
up  a  little  late  to  -  night,  let  your  business 
be  suspended  to-morrow.  Supposing  you 
do  not  get  so  much  money  to-morrow  and 
get  Christ,  is  not  that  worth  more  than 
money  ?  Better  for  a  man  to  be  sure  of 
salvation  than  to  have  the  wealth  of  the 
world  rolled  to  his  feet.  If  you  take  my 
advice  you  will 

JUST  TAKE  TIME  TO-NIGHT, 

and  just  make  up  your  mind —  this  night 
the  question  of  eternity  must  be  settled. 
But  there  is  another  excuse  coming  up 
from  some  one  in  the  gallery.  A  man 
says,  "My  heart  is  so  hard."  Well,  that 
is  just  the  very  reason  you  ought  to  come. 
If  you  had  not  a  hard  heart  you  would 
not  need  a  Saviour.  Can  you  soften 
your  heart .?  Can  you  break  your  heart .? 
Did  not  God  invite  the  hard  -  hearted .? 
Did  not  Christ  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost.?  It  is  just  because 
men's  he^ts  are  hard  that  they  need  a 
Saviour,  and    that   is    no    excuse   at    all. 


God  invites  you,  and  you  won't  stand  up 
and  say  to  the  Great  King  you  did  not 
accept  the  invitation  because  you  had  a 
hard  heart.  He  invites  "  whosoever,"  and 
you  can  come  along  with  your  hard  heart 

CHRIST  BREAKING  THE  CHAIN. 

In  the  north  there  was  a  minister  talk- 
ing to  a  man  in  the  inquiry- room.  He 
says,  "  My  heart  is  so  hard,  it  seems  as 
if  it  was  chained,  and  I  cannot  come." 
"  Ah,"  says  the  minister,  "  come  along, 
chain  and  all;"  and  he  just  came  to 
Christ  hard-hearted,  chain  and  all,  and 
Christ  snapped  the  fetters,  and  set  him 
free  right  there.  So  come  along.  If  you 
are  bound  hand  and  feet  by  Satan,  that 
is  the  work  of  God  to  break  the  fetters ; 
you  cannot  break  them.  Thanks  be  to 
God,  He  can  snap  the  fetters  and  set  the 
captive  souls  free  to-night.  I  do  not  care 
how  hard  the  heart  is :  the  Lord  can 
save  to  the  uttermost,  and  He  bids  you 
come  just  as  you  are.  Oh,  this  old  ex- 
cuse— 

"  I  AM  so  BAD  !  " 

Paul  said  he  was  the  "  chief "  of  sin- 
ners, and  if  the  chief  has  gone  up  on 
high  there  is  hope  for  everybody  else. 
The  devil  makes  us  believe  that  we  are 
good  enough  without  salvation  if  he  can  ; 
and  if  he  cannot  make  us  believe  that, 
he  says,  "  You  are  so  bad  the  Lord  won't 
have  you ;"  and  so  he  tries  to  make  peo- 
ple believe  because  they  are  so  bad  Christ  • 
won't  have  anything  to  do  with  them. 
God  invites  you  to  come  just  as  you  are. 
I  know  a  great  many  people  want  to  come, 
but  they  are  trying  to  get  better  and  to 
get  ready  to  come.  Now  mark  you,  my 
friend,  the  Lord  invites  you  to  come  just 
as  you  are,  and  if  you  could  make  yourself 
better  you  Avould  not  be  any  more  accept- 
able to  God.  Do  not  put  these  filthy 
rags  of  self-righteousness  about  you.  God 
will  strip  every  rag  from  you  when  you 
come  to  Him,  and  He  will  clothe  you  with 
glorious  garments.  When  our  war  was 
going  on  we  would  sometimes  go  to  the 
recruiting  office  and  see  a  man  come  in 
with  a  silk  hat,  broadcloth  coat,  calfskin 
boots — his  suit  might  be  worth  ;!^ioo;  and 
another  man  would  come  in  whose  clothes 
were  not  worth  a  pound  ;  but  they  both 
had  to  strip  and  put  on  the  uniform  of 
the  country.  And  so  when  we  go  into 
Christ's  vineyard  we  must  put  on  the  livery 
of  heaven  and  be  stripped  of  every  rag. 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


109 


However  bad  you  are,  come  along  just  as 
you  are  and  the  Lord  will  receive  you. 

THE  ARTIST  AND  THE  BEGGAR. 

I  read  some  time  ago  of  an  artist  who 
wanted  to  find  a  man  that  would  represent 
the  prodigal.  One  day,  walking  up  the 
streets,  he  met  a  poor  beggar,  and  the 
thought  occurred  to  him,  "  That  man 
would  represent  the  prodigal."  He  told 
him  what  he  wanted,  and  found  the  beggar 
was  ready  to  come  to  his  place  of  business 
and  sit  for  his  painting  if  he  would  pay 
him  for  his  time.  The  man  appeared  on 
the  day  appointed,  but  the  artist  did  not 
recognize  him.  He  said,  "  You  made  an 
appointment  with  me."  "  No,"  says  the 
artist,  "  I  never  saw  you  before."  "You 
are  mistaken  ;  you  did  see  me,  and  made 
an  appointment  with  me."  "  No,  it  must 
be  some  other  artist.  I  have  an  appoint- 
ment to  meet  a  beggar  here  at  this  hour." 
"  Well,"  says  the  beggar,  "  I  am  the  man." 
"  You  the  man  .?"  "  Yes."  "  What  have 
you  been  doing .?"  "  Well,  I  thought  I 
would  get  a  new  suit  of  clothes  before  I 
got  painted."  "  Well,"  says  the  artist,  "  I 
don't  want  you  ;"  he  would  not  have  him 
then.  And  so  if  you  are  coming  to  God, 
come  just  as  you  are.  Do  not  go  and  put 
on  some  garments  of  yours,  and  think  the 
Lord  will  accept  you  because  you  have 
some  good  thoughts  and  desires.  Come 
along  just  as  you  are.  I  do  not  care  how 
bad  you  are;  this  Man  receiveth  sinners  and 
eateth  with  them,  and  all  you  have  to  do 
is  to  prove  that  you  are  a  sinner,  and  I  wil 
prove  to  you  that  you  have  a  Saviour,  and 
the  greater  the  sinner  the  more  need  of  a 
Saviour. 

PREJUDICE  AGAINST  SPECIAL  SERVICES  AND 
LAY  PREACHERS. 

Some  say,  "  I  would  like  to  become  a 
Christian,  but  I  have  a  prejudice  against 
these  special  meetings,  and  against  Ameri- 
cans,  and  against  a  layman  too.  If  it  was 
a  regular  minister,  and  it  was  our  regular 
minister,  I  would  accept  the  invitation." 
If  that  is  your  difficulty,  I  can  help  you  out 
of  that.  You  can  just  get  right  up,  and  go 
out  of  the  hall,  and  run  right  over  to  your 
minister,  and  have  a  talk  with  him.  And 
if  you  say  you  do  not  want  to  be  converted 
in  a  special  meeting,  there  are  regular  meet- 
ings in  all  the  churches  throughout  Lon- 
don, and  your  minister  would  be  most  glad 
to  see  and  talk  and  pray  with  you.     But  if 


you  say,  "  There  is  a  great  awakening  here 
in  London,"  and  you  do  not  want  to  be 
converted  in  that  way,  you  can  jump  into 
a  train,  and  go  to  some  town  where  there 
is  no  revival.  We  can  find  you  some  place 
where  there  is  no  revival,  and  some  church 
where  there  is  not  much  of  the  revival 
spirit.  If  you  really  want  to  go,  don't 
give  that  for  an  excuse.  How  wise  the 
devil  is  !  When  the  church  is  cold,  and 
everything  is  dead,  men  say,  "  Oh,  well,  if 
there  was  only  some  life  in  the  church  I 
might  become  a  Christian,  if  we  could  only 
just  have  a  wave  from  heaven."  Then 
when  the  wave  does  come  they  say,  *'  Oh, 
no,  we  are  afraid  of  excitement,  and  afraid 
of  these  special  meetings.  We  are  afraid 
there  will  be  something  done  that  won't  be 
just  in  accordance  with  our  ideas  of  pro- 
priety." My  friend,  it  is  God  who  is 
working.  Come  along  just  as  you  are. 
Do  not  wait  another  minute,  but  accept 
the  invitation  and  accept  it  right  here  to- 
night. 

A  WORD  THAT  SHOULD  BE  ABOLISHED. 

There  is  another  class  here  who  say,  "  I 
would  like  to  come,  but  then  I  do  not  feel." 
That  is,  I  think,  the  very  worst  excuse,  and 
the  most  common  excuse  we  have.  I  wish 
sometimes  the  word  could  be  abolished — 
feel,  feel.  You  go  into  the  inquiry-room. 
"  Well,  Mr.  Moody,  I  do  not  feel  this  and 
that."  Why,  supposing  my  friend  Mr. 
Stone  should  invite  me  to  go  to  his  house 
to-morrow  to  dinner,  and  I  say  to  Mr. 
Stone,  "  I  would  like  to  go  very  much,  but 
I  don't  know  as  I  feel  right."  "Well,"  he 
says,  "  what  do  you  mean .?  Do  you  mean 
you  don't  want  to  go  to  my  house  1  "  "  Oh, 
no,  I  want  to  go."  That  is  what  men  say 
— "  Oh,  yes,  we  want  to  be  saved."  "  What 
do  you  mean,  Mr.  Moody  ?  Do  you  mean 
that  you  do  not  know  as  you  will  be  well 
to-morrow.?  Do  you  think  you  will  be 
sick  ?  "  "  Oh,  no,  I  expect  to  be  well  to- 
morrow if  I  live."  "Well,  what  do  you 
mean  by  feeling  ?  "  "  Well,  I  do  not  know 
just  how  I'll  feel.  I  would  like  very  much  to 
go  to  your  house  to  dinner  to-morrow,  but 
I  don't  know  as  I  will  feel  just  right."  "  I 
don't  understand  you,  Mr.  Moody ;  I  am 
not  talking  about  feeling ;  I  invite  you  to 
come  to  my  house  to  dinner."  "  Well,  I 
would  like  to  come  very  much,  but  the  fact 
is  I  do  not  know  how  I  will  feel  to-mor- 
row." I  can  imagine  my  friend  Mr.  Stone 
saying,  "  What  has  come  over  Moody  ?  I 
think  the  fellow  has  gone  mad.     I  asked 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


him  to  in}'  house  to  dinner,  and  he  says  he 
■would  like  to  come,  but  he  does  not  know 
as  he  will  feel  right,  and  he  talked  about 
feeling  all  the  time."  Of  course  you  would 
say  he  has  gone  mad.  That  is  the  way 
people  talk  now.  You  talk  to  them  about 
coming  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  they 
say,  *'  I  do  not  know  as  I  feel  just  right." 

AWAY  WITH  YOUR  FEELINGS. 

God  is  above  feeling.  Why,  can  you  con- 
trol your  feelings?  If  I  could  I  would  feel 
good  all  the  time — never  catch  me  feeling 
bad  at  anything.  I  am  sure  if  I  could  con- 
trol my  feelings  I  never  would  have  any 
bad  feelings ;  I  would  always  have  good 
feelings.  Bear  in  mind  Satan  may  change 
our  feelings  fifty  times  a  day,  but  he  cannot 
change  the  Word  of  God ;  and  what  we 
want  is  to  build  our  hopes  of  heaven  upon 
the  Word  of  God.  When  a  poor  sinner  is 
coming  up  out  of  the  pit,  and  just  ready  to 
get  his  feet  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  the 
devil  sticks  out  a  plank  of  feeling,  and  says, 
"  Get  on  that,"  and  when  he  puts  his  feet 
on  that,  down  he  goes  again.  Take  one  of 
these  texts — "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he 
that  heareth  My  word  and  believeth  on 
Him  that  sent  Me  hath  everlasting  life,  and 
shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is 
passed  from  death  unto  life."  My  friend, 
that  is  worth  more  than  all  the  feelings 
that  you  can  have  in  a  whole  lifetime.  I 
would  a  thousand  times  rather  stand  on  that 
verse  than  on  the  best  frame  and  feeling. 
I  took  my  stand  there  twenty  years  ago. 
The  dark  waves  of  hell  have  come  dashing 
up  against  me ;  the  waves  of  persecution 
have  dashed  up  around  me ;  doubts,  fears, 
and  unbelief  have  assailed  me ;  but  I  have 
been  able  to  stand  right  there.  It  is  a  sure 
footing  for  eternity.  It  was  true  t,8oo 
years  ago,  and  it  is  true  to-night.  That  Rock 
is  higher  than  my  feeling.  What  we  want 
is  to  get  our  feet  upon  the  Rock,  and  then 
the  Lord  will  put  a  new  song  into  our 
mouths. 

NOT  A  MISFORTUNE,  BUT  A  SIN. 

There  is  another  class  who  say  they 
cannot  believe.  Not  long  ago,  a  man  said 
to  me,  "  I  cannot  believe."  I  said  "Who  T' 
'  Well,  I  cannot  believe."  I  said,  "Who  1  " 
He  stammered  and  stuttered,  and  I 
said,  "  Who  cannot  you  believe — God  ?  " 
"  Oh,  yes,  I  believe  God,  I  cannot  be- 
lieve myself."  "  Well,  you  do  not  want 
ii   believe    yourself.     Your  heart   is    de- 


ceitful above  all  things,  and  despeiately 
wicked.  Put  no  confidence  in  the  flesh. 
Don't  believe  yourself,  make  yourself  a 
liar,  and  God  to  be  truei  Believe  in  God, 
and  say  as  Job  said,  "  Though  He  slay  me 
I  will  trust  Him."  Some  men  seem  to 
talk  as  if  it  was  a  great  misfortune  that 
they  do  not  believe.  Bear  in  mind  it  is 
the  damning  sin  of  the  world.  "  When 
He,  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  come,  He  will  re- 
prove the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteous- 
ness, and  of  judgment;  of  sin,  because 
they  believe  not  on  Me."  That  is  the  sin 
of  the  world  —  "  because  they  believe  not 
on  Me."  Why,  that  is  the  very  root  of 
sin,  the  very  tree,  and  all  the  fruit.  This 
is  the  tree  that  brings  forth  this  bad  fruit 
—  it  is  the  tree  of  unbelief  May  God 
open  your  eyes  to-night  to  see  that  God  is 
true,  and  that  you  may  be  led  to  put  your 
trust  in  Him  now. 

A  PACK  OF  LIES. 

I  wish  I  had  time  to  go  on  with  these 
excuses,  for  they  are  as  numerous  as  the 
hairs  on  our  heads.  But  if  I  could  go  on 
and  exhaust  them  all,  the  devil  would  help 
to  make  more.  You  can  just  take  them, 
tie  them  up  in  one  bundle,  and  mark  them 
a  pack  of  lies,  the  whole  of  them.  Not 
one  of  them  is  true.  And  let  me  say,  if 
your  excuse  is  a  good  one,  if  you  have  an 
excuse  that  will  stand  the  light  of  eternity, 
do  not  give  it  up  for  anything  I  have  said. 
Hold  it  firm,  take  it  to  the  bar  of  God, 
and  tell  it  out  to  Him.  But  if  you  have 
an  excuse  that  won't  stand  the  piercing 
eye  of  God,  I  beg  of  you  as  a  friend,  give 
it  up — let  your  excuses  go.  Let  them  go 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  and  accept  of 
the  invitation  now.  It  is  a  very  easy 
thing  for  a  man  to  excuse  himself  into  hell, 
but  you  cannot  excuse  yourself  out. 

And  another  very  solemn  thought  is, 
God  will  excuse  you  if  you  want  to  be  ex- 
cused. He  does  not  want  to  do  it.  "  As 
I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure 
in  the  death  of  the  Avicked  ;  but  that  the 
wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live.  Turn 
ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways  ;  for  why 
will  ye  die,  oh  house  of  Israel .''"  God 
wants  you  to  come  to  His  feast. 
Come  just  as  you  are;  accept  the  invita- 
tion. Let  the  shop  be  closed  till  you  ac- 
cept this  invitation.  Let  business  be  sus- 
pended till  you  accept  this  invitation.  Let 
the  oxen  stand  in  the  stall  till  you  accept 
of  this  invitation.  Let  everything  else  be 
laid  aside  until  the  great  question  of  eter- 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


Ill 


nity  is  asked,  until  you  can  look  up  and 
say,  "  God  is  ray  Father,  Jesus  Christ  is 
my  Saviour,  and  heaven  shall  be  my  future 
home." 

I  wish  I  had  time  to  call  your  attention 
to  who  will  be  at  the  marriage  supper  of 
the  Lamb. 

LIFT  YOUR  EYES  HEAVENWARD 

to-night,  mothers  ;  you  have  got  loved  chil- 
dren that  have  gone  on  before  you,  and 
they  will  be  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb,  they  will  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
—  will  you  be  missing  ?  Fathers  and 
mothers  that  have  loved  ones  that  have 
gone  on  before  you,  if  you  could  hear 
them — they  are  shouting  from  the  battle- 
ments of  heaven,  "  Come  this  Avay." 
Young  man.  you  have  a  sainted  mother 
there,  a  loved  father  there :  they  are  beck- 
oning you  heavenward  to-night.  They 
have  been  gathering  from  the  time  the  holy 
Abel  went  up  —  for  6,000  years  they  have 
been  gathering  out  of  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth.  The  purest  and  best  of  earth 
are  not  down  here,  they  are  in  heaven,  and 
God  wants  you  and  I  to  be  there.  Blessed 
is  he  that  shall  be  at  the  marriage  supper 
of  the  Lamb.  Oh,  by  the  grace  of  God  I 
mean  to  be  there.  My  friends,  let  us  to- 
night every  one  accept  of  the  invitation. 
God  invites  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low, 
learned  and  unlearned,  all  alike  to  come 
to  the  feast.  Do  not  make  light  of  the  in- 
vitation. 

THE  REPLY  TO  THE  ROYAL  INVITATION. 

Suppose  we  should  just  write  out  the 
excuse  to  the  King  of  Heaven :  "  While 
sitting  in  the  Agricultural  Hall,  March  24, 
1875,  I  received  a  very  pressing  invitation 
from  one  of  your  messengers  to  be  present 


at  the  marriage  supper  of  your  only-be-' 
gotten  Son.  I  pray  Thee,  have  me  ex- 
cused." Would  you  come  up  and  sign 
that  }  Would  you  take  your  pen  and  put 
your  name  down  to  that  excuse  }  I  can 
imagine  you  saying  you  would  let  your 
right  hand  forget  its  cunning,  and  your 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  your  mouth 
first.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  man  in 
this  room  that  could  be  made  to  sign  this 
excuse ;  but  what  will  you  do  }  Many  of 
you  will  get  up  and  go  out  of  this  hall, 
making  light  of  the  preacher,  laughing  at 
everything  you  have  heard,  paying  no  at- 
tention to  the  invitation.  I  beg  of  you,  do 
not  make  light  of  this  invitation.  It  is  a 
loving  God  that  invites  you  to  a  loving 
feast,  and  God  is  not  to  be  mocked.  Go 
play  with  the  forked  lightning,  trifle  with 
any  pestilence,  any  disease,  rather  than 
with  God.  God  is  not  to  be  trifled  with. 
It  is  God  that  invites  you.  Young  lady, 
what  will  you  do  with  the  invitation  to- 
night }  Young  man,  what  will  you  do 
with  the  invitation  to-night.?  Will  you 
accept  of  it  7  Oh,  may  God  help  you 
now  to  say  from  the  very  depths  of  your 
heart,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  will  ac- 
cept." 

Just  let  me  write  out  another.  "  To 
the  King  of  Heaven  :  While  sitting  in 
the  Agricultural  Hall,  March  24,  1875,  I 
received  a  pressing  invitation  from  one  of 
your  servants  to  be  present  at  the  marriage 
supper  of  your  only  -  begotten  Son.  I 
hasten  to  reply.  By  the  grace  of  God  I 
will  be  present."  Who  will  sign  that.? 
Who  will  set  to  their  seal  to-night  that 
God  is  true  }  Be  wise  to-night,  and  accept 
of  the  invitation.  Make  up  your  mind 
you  will  not  go  away  till  the  question  of 
eternity  is  settled.  May  God  bring  hun- 
dreds to  a  decision  to-night  is  the  prayer 
of  my  heart. 


112 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


Few  of  Air.  Moody's  addresses  have  ex- 
cited more  interest  tlian  the  tzuo  which  fol- 
low. They  were  first  reported  in  full  in  the 
^^  Christian  World"  in  April  last.  There  is 
no  better  evidence  of  the  po^ver  of  these  themes 
over  the  people  than  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
wherever  Mr.  Moody  goes,  these  addresses 
always  command  the  deepest  attention  of 
his  great  audiences. 


X. 

A  SERMON  ABOUT  HEAVEN. 

I  HAVE  for  my  subject  to-night,  heaven. 
I  was  going  to  a  meeting  some  time  ago,  and 
a  friend  said  to  me  on  my  way,  "  What  is 
your  subject  1"  I  told  him  I  thought  I 
should  talk  about  heaven.  I  noticed  a  scowl 
on  his  forehead,  and  said,  "  What  makes 
you  look  in  that  way .?"  He  said  he  was  in 
hopes  I  was  going  to  give  them  something 
practical,  that  there  would  be  time  enough 
to  talk  about  heaven  when  we  got  there. 
But  there  is  a  passage  in  Timothy  which 
says  that  "  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine," 
and  if  God  did  not  want  us  to  talk  about 
and  think  about  heaven  He  would  not  have 
so  much  written  about  it.  And  I  think  if 
people  talked  more  about  heaven  they 
would  have  more  of  a  desire  to  go  there. 
\  .  When  we  were  compiling  this  little  hymn- 
book  I  wanted  to  put  in  two  or  three  more 
hymns  about  heaven.  My  friend  said,  "  I 
think  you  have  too  many  about  heaven."  I 
don't  know,  I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  cannot 
help  but  like  those  hymns  wonderfully. 
*'  That  beautiful  land  on  high," — I  have 
heard  it  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  very 
often,  and  I  have  not  got  tired  of  it  yet.  I 
love  to  hear  those  sweet  hymns  about 
heaven,  for  it  seems  to  me  we  cannot  hear 
too  much  about  heaven.  If  you  were  going 
to  America  to  live  and  spend  the  rest  of 
your  days,  and  it  was  given  out  I  was  going 
to  talk  about  America  here  to-night,  1  can 
imagine  how  anxious  you  would  be  to  listen 
to  all  I  said  about  that  country,  about  its 
climate,  and  about  its  inhabitants.  You 
could  not  hear  too  much  about  a  country 
which  you  were  going  to,  to  live  a  few  years 
even,  because  our  life  here  is  but  a  vapor 
compared  with  that  life  beyond  this.  Well 
now,  if  we  are  going  to  spend  eternity  in 


heaven,  can  we  hear  too  much  about  it }    I 
think  not. 

THE  infidel's  QUERY. 

I  remember  soon  after  I  was  converted 
an  infidel  got  hold  of  me  and  wanted  to 
know  why  it  was  I  always  addressed  my 
prayer  upwards.  He  said  God  was  every- 
where. He  was  no  more  above  me  in  heaven, 
as  I  called  it,  than  He  was  here ;  He  was 
the  God  of  nature.  And  so  I  find  infidels 
and  sceptics,  they  reason  av/ay  hell,  they 
reason  away  heaven,  and  they  would  even 
reason  away  God.  Now  I  will  admit  that 
God  is  here,  the  same  as  we  say  the  sun 
has  been  shining  in  London  to-day,  but  it 
is  95,000,000  of  miles  away,  and  so  God 
may  be  here  to-night,  but  at  the  same  time 
God  is  a  Person.  God  has  a  dwelling-place, 
and  it  is  right  that  we  should  address  our 
prayers  upward.  I  think  it  is  in  the 
26th  of  Deuteronomy  we  read,  "Look 
down  from  Thy  holy  habitation  from 
heaven,  and  bless  Thy  people  Israel 
and  the  land  which  Thou  has  given 
us,  as  thou  swarest  unto  our  fathers, 
a  land  that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey." 
And  in  Genesis  we  read  that  God  "went 
up  "  from  talking  with  Abraham.  In  the 
3d  of  John  we  read  Christ  said  He 
"  came  down  from  heaven."  And  then 
we  find  that  when  He  was  here  on  earth, 
in  one  place  it  is  said  He  looked  up  to- 
wards heaven  ;  in  that  wonderful  prayer  in 
the  17th  of  John  He  "lifted  up  His  eyes 
to  heaven,"  it  is  said.  So  we  find  we  have 
some  authority  for  addressing  our  prayers 
upwards  ;  heaven  is  located  above. 

THE   HOME   OF  GOD. 

Then  we  find  that  it  is  the  dwelling- 
place  of  God.  Would  you  turn  to  i  Kings 
viii.  30  :  "  And  hearken  Thou  to  the  sup- 
plication of  Thy  servant  and  of  Thy  peo- 
ple Israel  when  they  shall  pray  toward  this 
place ;  and  hear  Thou  in  heaven.  Thy 
dwelling  -  place,  and  when  Thou  hearest, 
forgive. "  Heaven  is  the  "  dwelling- 
place  "  of  God.  God  has  a  home,  God 
has  a  throne,  God  has  a  dwelling- 
place  —  "  hear  Thou  in  heaven,  Thy 
dwelling  -  place."  Now,  how  far  away 
heaven  is  I  do  not  know  ;  I  have  not  been 
able  to  find  out.  There  is  one  thing  that 
I  do  know,  it  is  not  so  far  away  but  God 
can  hear  us  when  we  pray.  God  can  hear 
every  prayer  that  goes  up  from  this  sin- 
cursed  earth.  We  are  not  so  far  from  Him 
but  that  He  can  sec  our  tears  and  hear  the 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


"3 


faintest  whisper  when  we  lift  our  heart  to 
Him  in  prayer.  In  Daniel  we  read  that 
Gabriel  was  caused  to  fly  swiftly  and  come 
to  Daniel.  I  do  not  know  how  long  it 
took  him  to  come,  but  as  near  as  I  can 
find  out  it  took  him  about  four  minutes. 
If  we  could  find  out  how  fast  he  flew  we 
might  find  out  how  far  heaven  is.  It  does 
not  take  long  for  these  angels  of  light  to 
come  to  our  rescue  and  help  if  we  need 
them.  In  2  Chronicles  vii.  14,  we  read, 
"  If  My  people,  which  are  called  by  My 
name,  shall  humble  themselves,  and  pray, 
and  seek  My  face,  and  turn  from  their 
wicloed  ways,  then  will  I  hear  from  heaven, 
and  will  forgive  their  sin,  and  will  heal 
their  land."  That  is  God's  own  word,  "  I 
will  hear  from  heaven,"  and  then  when 
Christ's  disciples  came  to  Him  and  said, 
"  Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray  as  John 
taught  His  disciples,"  He  taught  them  to 
pray  thus :  "  Our  Father  who  art  in 
heaven,"  —  not  down  here.  That  is  His 
dwelling-place.  God  has  a  throne,-  and 
God  has  a  dwelling-place,  and  let  us  make 
heaven  real.  I  believe  heaven  is  a  city 
quite  as  real  as  London  is.  What  we  want 
is  to  make  heaven  real,  and  hell  real,  and 
God  real,  and  Christ  real,  and  then  live  as 
if  we  believed  these  things  to  be  real. 

THE  CURTAIN  LIFTED. 

Now,  we  have  it  established  that  God  is 
in  heaven,  that  that  is  His  dwelling-place, 
that  He  has  a  throne  there.  Then  would 
you  just  turn  to  the  7th  of  Acts,  for  we 
want  to  find  out  who  is  there  and  what 
company  we  are  going  to  be  in  when  we 
get  there — the  55  th  verse  :  "  But  he  being 
full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  looked  up  stead- 
fastly into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of 
God,  and  Jesus  standing  on  the  right  hand 
of  God."  When  a  man  is  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  heaven  does  not  seem  far  away ;  he 
can  see  by  the  eye  of  faith  clearly  into  the 
city,  and  can  see  Christ  standing  at  the 
right  hand  of  God.  Stephen  was  full  of 
faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  cur- 
tain was  lifted  and  he  looked  in,  and  there 
he  saw  his  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour,  whom 
he  loved,  standing  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  Heaven  was  real  to  Stephen,  Christ 
was  real.  He  was  a  real  living  person,  and 
he  saw  Him  there.  And  I  think  that  is 
what  is  going  to  make  heaven  so  attractive 
to  us — Christ  will  be  there. 


i 


THE  VISION  OF  THE  KING. 

One  Christian   asked   anothet  what  he 


expected  to  do  when  he  got  to  heaven, 
and  he  said  he  expected  to  take  one  good 
long  look  of  about  500  years  at  Christ,  and 
then  he  would  want  to  see  Paul  and  Peter 
and  John  and  the  rest  of  the  disciples. 
Well,  it  seems  to  me  one  glimpse  of  Christ 
will  pay  us  for  all  that  we  are  called  upon 
to  endure  here  —  to  see  the  King  in  His 
beauty,  to  be  in  the  presence  of  the  King. 
And  then  the  sweet  thought  is  we  shall  be 
like  Him  when  we  see  Him,  and  we  shall 
see  Him  in  His  beauty,  we  shall  see  Him 
high  and  exalted.  When  He  was  down 
here  it  was  the  time  of  His  humiliation, 
cast  out  from  the  world,  spit  upon  and 
rejected  ;  but  God  hath  exalted  Him  and 
put  Him  at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and 
there  He  is,  and  there,  my  friends,  we  shall 
see  Him  by-and-by.  A  few  more  tears,  a 
few  more  shadows,  and  then  God  shall  say, 
"  Come  up  hither,  and  into  the  presence 
of  the  King  we  shall  come.  It  may  be  I 
am  talking  to  some  one  to-night  that  will 
see  the  King  before  the  sun  shall  rise  to- 
morrow morning — some  one  in  this  au- 
dience may  be  summoned  away  and  be 
there  with  the  Lord  Jesus.  Yes,  it  won't 
be  the  pearly  gates  that  will  be  so  attractive, 
it  won't  be  the  jasper  walls,  it  won't  be  the 
streets  paved  with  transparent  gold, — that 
is  not  what  is  going  to  make  heaven  so 
attractive  ;  but  it  is  the  thought  that  Jesus, 
who  loved  us,  and  gave  Himself  for  us, 
will  be  there,  and  we  shall  see  Him,  we 
shall  look  upon  Him.  Oh,  that  v/ill  make 
heaven  glorious,  to  think  that  we  shall  see 
Him  ourselves,  that  we  shall  behold  Him 
and  gaze  upon  Him,  and  hear  that  loved 
voice.  Ah,  methinks  I  would  rather  hear 
that  voice,  and  look  into  those  lovely  eyes, 
and  gaze  upon  that  face  than  to  see  all  the 
world.  Yes,  that  is  what  God  calls  us  to, 
that  we  may  be  in  the  presence  of  His 
beloved  Son. 

^    STORY    OF    A    MOTHERLESS   CHILD. 

I  was  reading,  some  time  ago,  of  a  little 
child  whose  mother  was  sick,  and  the  child 
was  not  old  enough  to  understand  about 
the  sickness  of  the  mother.  It  was  taken 
away,  and  when  the  mother  died,  they 
thought  they  would  rather  have  the  child 
remember  its  mother  as  she  was  when  she 
was  well,  and  so  they  did  not  take  her 
back  till  after  the  mother  was  buried. 
They  then  brought  the  child  home  and  she 
ran  into  the  drawing-room  to  meet  her 
mother,  and  her  mother  was  not  there. 
The  little  thing  was  disappointed,  and  ran 


114 


SERMONS  AND  ADDJ^ESSES. 


into  all  the  rooms,  but  could  not  find  her 
mother.  She  began  to  cry,  and  asked 
them  to  send  her  back ;  she  did  not  want 
to  stay;  home  had  lost  its  attraction  be- 
cause mother  was  not  there.  What  is  going 
to  make  heaven  so  delightful?  It  won't 
be  the  pearly  gates;  it  won't  be  the  jasper 
walls;  but  it  will  be  that  we  shall  see  the 
King  in  His  beauty,  and  shall  behold  Him, 
and  not  only  Him,  but  those  that  have 
gone  on  before  us. 

THE    ANGELS    OUR    COMPANIONS. 

Then  look  to  the  loth  verse  of  the  i8th 
of  Matthew.  We  have  God  the  Father 
■and  Christ  the  Son;  they  will  be  with  us 
and  we  shall  be  with  them.  Then  we  read 
in  this  verse,  "  Take  heed  that  ye  despise 
not  one  of  these  little  ones;  for  I  say  unto 
you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  My  Father  which  is  in 
heaven."  So  we  will  have  the  angels  for 
our  companions,  we  will  have  the  society 
of  angels  when  we  get  in  that  world  of 
light.  You  may  say,  "  Oh,  that  is  visionary 
to  talk  about  guardian  angels."  But  you 
know  when  Peter  was  out  of  prison  the 
damsel  who  went  to  the  door  came  back 
and  said  it  could  not  be  hirn,  it  was  his 
angel.  Why,  I  believe  the  early  Christians 
believed  it,  and  then  the  Scriptures  teach 
that  the  angels  encamp  round  about  them 
that  love  God.  I  would  not  be  surprised 
to  find  that  there  are  more  angels  in  this 
hall  than  there  are  human  beings.  God 
has  given  His  angels  charge  over  us  to  keep 
us.  Look  at  that  servant  of  Elisha  on  the 
mountain ;  when  his  servant  was  alarmed 
and  Elisha  prayed  God  to  open  his  eyes, 
he  found  the  mountain  was  filled  with 
angels  and  chariots  and  horsemen.  They 
were  down  from  the  Eternal  City  just  to 
shield  that  one  servant  of  the  living  God. 
Oh,  my  friends,  let  us  cheer  up  and  remem- 
ber God  thinks  so  much  of  us  that  He 
sends  angels  down  to  guard  us,  but  in  that 
world  we  will  be  companions  of  theirs,  we 
will  see  them  face  to  face,  we  will  talk  with 
them  then.  We  cannot  be  brought  into 
fellowship  with  them  now,  but  then  we 
shall  be  taken  into  the  presence  of  these 
very  angels. 

When  Gabriel  came  down  to  tell  Zach- 
arias  what  was  going  to  take  place  he  said, 
"  I  am  Gabriel,  who  stands  in  the  presence 
of  God-"  Yes,  there  are  angels  in  the 
presence  of  God,  and  we  will  have  them 
for  our  society. 


THE    REUNION    OF    THE    REDEEMED. 

Just  turn  to  John  xii.  26  : — "  If  any  man 
serve  Me  let  him  follow  Me,  and  where  I 
am  there  shall  also  My  servant  be;  if  any 
man  serve  Me,  him  will  My  Father  honor." 
The  servant  and  the  master  shall  be  to- 
gether. "  If  any  man  serve  Me,  that  ser- 
vant shall  be  with  Me,"  He  says.  A  great 
many  people  come  to  me  and  want  to  know 
if  I  really  think  their  friends  that  have  died 
in  the  Lord  are  with  the  Lord.  Some  have 
an  idea  that  they  are  separated  from  the 
Lord.  Now,  there  are  a  few  passages  of 
Scripture  that  I  think  give  us  strong  reason 
to  believe  that  our  departed  friends  that 
have  died  with  Christ  are  safe  with  Him, 
and  so  we  have  not  only  God  the  Father, 
Christ  the  Son,  and  angels,  but  the  re- 
deemed saints  are  there.  Would  you  just 
look  to  the  2d  Corinthians  v.  i,  where 
Paul  says,  "  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we 
have  a  building  of  God,  an  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  Then 
in  the  8th  verse  : — "  We  are  confident,  I 
say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from 
the  body,  and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord." 
Yes,  if  this  earthly  house  were  dissolved, 
we  have  a  building  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens.  Then  he  says,  • 
"  Absent  from  the  body,  present  with  the 
Lord."  I  believe  Paul  thought  when  he 
left  the  body  he  should  see  the  King  in 
His  beauty,  that  he  would  behold  the  Lord 
Himself.  Then  turn  to  Philippians  i.  23, 
"  For  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  two,  having 
a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better."  I  think  these  1,800 
years  that  Paul  has  been  gone  from  the 
earth  he  has  been  with  Christ.  Christ 
would  not  be  separated  from  him.  Then 
we  find  other  passages — we  have  not  time 
to  dwell  upon  them,  but  it  seems  to  me  we 
have  strong  reason  to  believe  that  those 
friends  that  have  died  safe  in  Christ  are 
with  Him  to-night.  Then  would  you  turn 
to  Revelations  vii,  9,  "  After  this  I  beheld, 
and  lo,  a  great  multitude,  which  no  man 
could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds, 
and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the 
throne  and  before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with 
white  robes  and  palms  in  their  hands,  and 
cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  Salvation 
to  our  God,  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne, 
and  unto  the  Lamb."  There  they  are,  re- 
deemed saints,  redeemed  out  of  every 
kindred,  every  nation  under  heaven,  around 
the  throne,  singing  the  song  of  Moses  and 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


115 


the  Lamb.  Yes,  they  sing  much  sweeter 
than  you  can  sing  on  earth.  And  if  we 
are  redeemed,  and  our  garments  are  washe'd 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  we  shall  join  in 
that  chorus,  by-and-by,  and  sing  much 
sweeter  than  we  can  here  upon  earth ;  we 
shall  shout.  Glory  to  the  Lamb  that  re- 
deemed us  with  His  precious  blood  !  So 
now  we  have  redeemed  saints  there. 

THE    SEVENTY    REVIVALISTS. 

There  is  another  thought  I  want  to 
bring  out,  and  that  is,  it  is  the  privilege  of 
every  child  of  God  in  this  vast  assembly  to 
know  that  their  names  are  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life,  and  believe  we  can  have  that 
assurance  that  our  names  have  gone  on 
before  us,  and  are  registered  in  heaven. 
Christ  sent  out  His  disciples,  seventy  of 
them,  and  told  them  to  go  into  the  towns 
and  villages,  and  preach  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  tell  the  glad  tidings  to  the  in- 
habitants ;  and  when  these  men  came  back 
they  had  had  wonderful  success.  Why, 
they  said  that  the  very  devils  were  subject 
to  them.  All  they  had  to  do  was  to  com- 
mand the  devils  to  leave  men,  and  the 
devils  fled  before  them.  They  were  all 
elated  with  their  wonderful  success ;  reviv- 
als had  followed  everywhere  they  had 
been ;  they  were  revival  preachers ;  they 
were  evangelists  going  into  the  towns 
and  preaching.  I  have  not  any 
doubt  but  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
prejudice  against  them,  but  they  went  on 
preaching  the  glad  tidings,  and  v/hen  they 
came  back,  Christ  says,  "  Well,  now,  do 
not  rejoice  at  that ;  I  will  tell  you  what  to 
rejoice  over.  Rejoice  that  your  names  are 
written  in  heaven."  And  I  would  like  to 
ask' every  one  in  this  audience  to-night  this 
question,  Is  your  name  there.?  Can  you 
rejoice  to-night  that  your  name  is  written 
in  heaven,  that  your  name  is  in  the  Book 
of    Life }     Says   Christ  to    His    disciples, 

'  Rejoice  that  your  names  are  written  in 

leaven." 

f'  NAMES   IN    THE    BOOK    OF    LIFE. 

Not  long  ago  there  v/as  a  man  complain- 
ing about  my  talking  about  names  written 
in  the  Book  of  Life,  he  did  not  believe  in 
it.  It  took  some  time  to  '00k  the  subject 
up,  and  I  was  amazed  to  find  so  much  in 
Scripture  about  names  being  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life.  In  the  12th  of  Daniel  we 
read,  "  And  at  that  time  shall  Michael 
stand  up,  the  great  prince  which  standeth 
for  the  children  of  thy  people  :  and  there 


shall  be  a  time  of  trouble  such  as  never  was 
since  there  was  a  nation,  even  to  the  same 
time,  and  at  that  time  Thy  people  shall  be 
delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
written  in  the  Book;  and  if  our  names  are 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life  God  will  care 
for  us,  God  will  protect  us."  Not  one 
whose  name  is  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book 
of  Life  shall  perish.  If  Christ  did  not 
want  us  to  know  that  our  names  were 
written  there,  do  you  think  He  would  have 
told  His  disciples  to  rejoice  that  their  names 
were  already  there.'  My  friend,  I  believe 
it  is  the  most  important  question  that  can 
come  before  us  in  this  world.  It  is  a 
thousand  times  better  that  we  have  our 
names  written  in  God's  Book  than  in  all 
the  books  in  the  world—^a  thousand  times 
better  that  our  name  shines  out  upon  God's 
Book-  of  Life,  and  is  written  there,  than  it 
is  to  be  written  in  any  church  record  in 
London.  It  is  a  great  deal  better  that  we 
make  sure  that  our  name  is  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life  than  that  it  is  written  in  your 
ledgers  with  great  sums  attached  to  your 
names.  It  is  a  thousand  times  better  to  be 
sure  that  our  name  has  been  written  in 
heaven  than  to  have  the  wealth  of  the 
v/orld. 

TELEGRAPH    FOR    A    ROOM. 

Two  years  ago  a  friend  of  mine  that 
was  in  London  was  going  back  to  Amer- 
ica. She  went  to  Liverpool  with  a  party 
of  American  friends,  and  they  were 
talking  about  what  hotel  they  would 
stop  at,  and  decided  to  go  to  the 
North  -  Western.  The  hotel  was  full, 
and  as  they  were  starting  to  find  another, 
they  said  to  my  friend,  "  Are  not  you  going 
with  us  V  My  friend  said,  "  No,  I  am 
going  to  stay  here."  "  Oh,  no,"  they  said, 
"you  cannot  stay  here."  But  my  friend 
said,  "  I  am  going  to  stay."  "  How  is  it.?" 
"  I  have  got  a  room."  "Where  did  you 
get  it .?"  '•  Why,  I  sent  my  name  on  ahead." 
She  had  telegraphed  a  few  days  before  and 
secured  a  room.  And  that  is  just  what 
the  children  of  God  are  doing  now  ;  they 
are  sending  their  names  on  ahead  and  get- 
ting them  down  in  the  Book  of  Life.  They 
are  not  waiting  for  the  dying  minute.  My 
friend, 

SEND  YOUR  NAME  ON  AHEAD 

to-night,  and  if  you  really  want  it  there 
God  will  put  it  there.  Yes,  every  one 
whose  names  are  written  in  the  Book  of 
Life  shall  not   perish,  but  shall  be  saved. 


ii6 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


Turn  to  Philippians  iv.  3  :  "  And  I  entreat 
thee  also,  true  yokefellow,  help  those  women 
Avhich  labored  with  me  in  the  Gospel,  with 
Clement  also,  and  with  other  my  fellow- 
laborers,  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of 
Life."  There  is  Paul  writing  to  those 
"whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life." 
Now,  suppose  I  should  ask  every  one  in 
this  audience  to  rise  that  have  reason  to 
believe  that  their  names  are  in  the  Book 
of  Life,  would  you  rise.?  Supposing  a 
letter  should  come  to  you  addressed  in  the 
way  Paul  addressed  this  letter  to  those 
women  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of 
Life,  could  you  say  that  was  for  you  }  Oh, 
it  is  the  privilege  of  every  child  of  God  to 
have  his  name  there,  and  to  know  that  it 
is  there.    ^I  find  so  many  people 

LIVING  IN  DOUBTING  CASTLE. 

Why,  it  is  salvation  by  doubts  nowadays 
instead  of  by  faith  ;  there  are  so  few  that 
dare  to  say,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed." 
We  find  most  Christians  nowadays  shiver- 
ing and  trembling  from  head  to  foot;  they 
do  not  know  whether  they  are  saved  or 
not.  Yes,  Christ  never  would  have  told 
Llis  disciples  to  have  rejoiced  unless  they 
had  known  that  their  names  were  there. 
Turn  to  Hebrews  xii.  23  for  a  minute : 
"  To  the  general  assembly  and  church  of 
the  first-born,  which  are  written  in  heaven, 
and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all  and  to  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  A  man 
sometimes  asks  another  man  what  church 
he  belongs  to.  Why,  I  belong  to  the  gen- 
eral assembly  and  the  church  of  the  first- 
born, which  are  written  in  heaven.  It  is 
a  good  thing  to  belong  to  that  church,  be- 
cause your  name  will  be  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life.  You  will  be  sure  to  get 
into  heaven  if  you  belong  to  that  church. 
You  may  belong  to  a  great  many  churches 
on  earth,  and  not  get  in.  Be  iurc  that  you 
belong  to  the  general  assembly  of  the  first- 
born, and  that  your  names  are  written  in 
heaven.  IMake  sure  of  this  one  thing  if 
you  are  not  sure  of  anything  else.  It  is 
better  that  you  fail  in  health  or  in  busi- 
ness, it  is  better  that  "ou  go  to  some  asy- 
lum, it  is  better  for  you  to  go  to  heaven 
from  some  poor-house  or  from  some  mad- 
house than  to  go  to  hell  in  a  gilded  chariot. 
Make  sure  that  your  name  is  written  in 
heaven;  then  you  have  something  worth 
rejoicing  over. 


THE    DREAD    ALTERNATIVE. 

There  is  something  said  in  Revelations 

about  the  names  being  written  in  the  book, 
the  20th  chapter  and  15th  verse:  "And 
whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire."  Young  man,  is  your  name  in  the 
Book  of  Life }  If  it  is  not,  and  you  should 
be  cut  down  by  death  to  -  night,  where 
would  your  soul  be  to-morrow  ?  Only 
tliink  of  it.  Say,  mother,  is  your  name 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life }  Are  you 
sure  it  is  there  }  Just  listen  to  these  words 
again,  "  And  whosoever  was  not  found 
Vv-ritten  in  the  Book  of  Life  was  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire-"  May  God  send  home 
the  truth  to  -  night,  and  may  every  one  in 
this  audience  be  sure  that  your  name  is 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life.  Let  business 
be  suspended,  let  everything  wait  till  you 
have  made  sure  of  your  soul's  salvation. 
Do  not  let  a  scoffing,  laughing,  mocking 
world  cheat  you  out  of  heaven.  Do  not 
let  anything  stand  between  you  and  this 
one  great  question.  Look  to  the  2rst 
chapter  and  the  27th  verse:  "And  there 
shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  anything  that 
defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abom- 
ination or  maketh  a  lie ;  but  they  which 
are  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life." 
Almost  the  last  words  in  Scripture  are 
about  this  Book  of  Life — they  whose  names 
are  written  in  the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life 
Now,  my  friend,  would  you  just  ask  your 
self  the  question,  and  may  God  press  it 
home  upon  you,  and  may  it  sink  deep  into 
every  heart  here,  "  Is  my  name  written  in 
the  Book  of  Life?"  It  seems  to  me  the 
great  work  is  to  be  sure  that  our  names  are 
there ;  then  we  are  ready  to  go  and  work 
for  others  ;  we  are  not  ready  until  we  know 
that  our  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life. 
And  then  these  mothers  and  these  fathers, 
why,  what  a  work  we  have  to  do  to  get  our 
children's  names  in  that  Book  !  It  seems 
to  me  every  parent  ought  to  be  more  anx- 
ious to  have  the  names  of  their  children 
written  in  that  Book  than  to  have  them 
written  high  in  some  school,  than  that 
they  should  stand  highest  in  their  clasr, 
— a  thousand  times  better  that  they  shoud 
stand  well  in  heaven,  and  that  their  names 
should  be  written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 
And  not  only  that,  but  I  believe  these 
little  children  can  have  their  names  writ- 
ten there,  and  we  as  parents  can  know 
that  our  children  have  their  names  there, 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


117 


if  we  work  for  it,  if  we  pray  for  it,  and 
that  is  our  aim.     Let  us  be 

FAITHFUL  WITH  OUR  CHILDREN 

while  they  are  young.  I  see  some  children 
here  to-night;  I  do  not  know  why  they 
should  not  become  Christians  now.  I  do 
not  know  why  their  parents  should  not 
labor  for  their  salvation.  I  believe  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  infidelity  got  into  the 
Church  of  God  at  the  present  time.  I  do 
not  believe  we,  as  parents,  realize  how 
young  these  children  can  become  true  dis- 
ciples of  Christ ;  if  we  did  we  would  labor 
more  for  the  salvation  of  little  children. 

►    A    missionary's    TOUCHING    STORY. 

I  was  urging  this  one  time  in  a  meeting 
in  America,  and  an  old  man  got  up  at  the 
close  and  said,  "  I  want  to  endorse  every 
word  that  has  been  said.  I  believe  in  the 
conversion  of  little  children.  Sixteen  years 
ago  I  was  in  a  heathen  country  laboring 
as  a  missionary,  and  my  wife  died  and  left 
me  with  three  little  motherless  children. 
On  the  Sabbath  after  her  death  my  eldest 
girl,  ten  years  old,  came  to  me  and  said, 
'  Papa,  shall  I  take  the  children  into  the 
bedroom  and  pray  with  them  as  mother 
used  to  ? '  "  That  is  the  power  of  example ; 
the  mother  was  dead,  and  gone,  and  little 
Nellie,  ten  years  old,  wanted  to  follow  in 
her  footsteps.  The  f:ither  said  yes,  she 
might  if  she  liked,  and  she  led  them  off  to 
the  chamber  to  pray.  He  said  when  they 
came  out  he  noticed  that  they  had  all  been 
weeping,  and  asked  what  they  had  been 
weeping  about.  "  Well,  father,"  said  the 
little  girl,  "  I  prayed  just  as  mother  taught 
me  to  pray,  and  then  " — naming  her  little 
brother  —  "he  prayed  the  prayer  that 
mother  taught  him  to  pray ;  but  little  Susie, 
she  was  too  young,  mother  had  not  taught 
her  a  prayer,  and  so  she  made  a  prayer  of 
her  o\yn,  and  I  could  not  help  but  weep  to 
hear  her  pray."  "  Why,"  said  the  father, 
"  what  did  she  say.'  "  "  Why,  she  put  up 
her  little  hands,  and  closed  her  eyes,  and 
said,  '  O  God,  you  have  come  and  taken 
away  my  dear  mamma,  and  I  have  no 
mamma  to  pray  for  me  now — won't  you 
please  make  me  good  just  as  my  dear 
mamma  was,  for  Jesus'  sake,  Amen ; '  " 
and,  said  the  old  missionary,  God  heard 
that  prayer.  That  little  child  before  she 
was  four  years  old  gave  evidence  of  being 
a  child  of  God,  and  for  sixteen  years  she 
was  in  that  heathen  country  leading  little 
children  to  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 


away  the  sin  of  the  world.  Mother,  do 
you  believe  your  child  can  come  too  early  } 
Do  you  believe  your  child  can  have  his 
name  written  in  the  Book  of  Life  too  early .? 
Oh,  may  God  help  us  to  labor  for  it,  to  call 
our  children  into  the  ark  !  May  God  give 
us  our  children,  and  may  their  names  be 
written  in  the  Book  of  Life  ! 

TiiE  DYING  SOLDIER    AND   THE   ROLL-CALL. 

A  soldier  lay  on  his  dying  couch  during 
our  last  war,  and  they  heard  him  say 
"  Here  !  "  They  asked  him  what  he 
wanted,  and  he  put  up  his  hand  and  said, 
"  Hush  !  they  are  calling  the  roll  of  heaven, 
and  I  am  answering  to  my  name,"  and 
presently  he  whispered,  "  Here !  "  and  he 
was  gone.  That  great  roll  is  being  called. 
My  friends,  your  name  may  come  to-night 
— mine  may  come.  Is  your  name  in  the 
Book  of  Life  .?  If  it  is  we  will  go  up  from 
earth  with  a  shout  of  victory  upon  our  lips  ; 
it  will  be  no  sad  summons.  But  to  die 
Avithout  God,  without  hope,  without  our 
names  written  in  the  Book  of  Life,  oh,  how 
sad,  how  dark,  how  terrible!  May  God 
help  you  to-night,  each  and  every  one  that 
are  without  God  and  without  hope,  to  press 
into  the  kingdom  is  the  prayer  of  my 
heart. 


XI. 

THE   BLOOD. 

The  subject  I  wish  to  call  your  attention 
to  this  afternoon  is  "The  Blood."  In  the 
first  place  would  you  turn  to  Genesis  iii. 
21  .? — "  Unto  Adam  also,  and  to  his  wife, 
did  the  Lord  God  make  coats  of  skins,  and 
clothed  them."  In  this  verse  we  get  the 
first  glimpse  of  blood.  Certainly  the  Lord 
could  not  have  clothed  Adam  and  Eve 
with  the  skins  of  beasts  unless  He  had  shed 
blood.  There  we  have  the  innocent  suffer- 
ing for  the  guilty — the  doctrine  of  substitu- 
tion in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  God  dealt 
with  Adam  in  government  before  He  dealt 
in  judgment.  Death  came  by  sin.  Adam 
had  sinned,  and  now  the  Lord  comes  down 
to  make  the  way  of  escape.  God  came  to 
him  as  a  loving  friend,  and  not  to  hurl  him 
from  the  earth.  Adam  could  have  said  to 
Eve,  "  If  the  Lord  has  driven  us  out  of  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  He  loves  us."  God  put  a 
lamp  of  promise  into  his  hand  before  He 
drove  him  out,  for  He  said,  "  The  seed  of 
the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head." 
Did  you  ever  think  what  a  terrible  state  ot 


ii8 


SERMONS  AND   ADDRESSES. 


things  it  would  be  if  man  was  allowed  to 
live  for  ever  in  his  lost,  ruined  state?  It 
was  out  of  love  to  Adam  that  God  drove 
him  out  of  Eden,  that  he  should  not  live 
for  ever.  God  put  the  cherubim  there ; 
and  now  Christ  has  taken  the  sword  out  of 
his  hand,  and  opened  wide  the  gate,  so  that 
we  can  come  in  and  eat.  Adam  might  have 
lieen  in  Eden  ten  thousand  years,  and  then 
be  led  astray  by  Satan  ;  but  now  our  lives 
are  hid  with  Christ.  Man  is  safer  with  the 
second  Adam  out  of  Eden  than  with  the 
first  Adam  in  Eden.  Would  you  turn  to 
Genesis  iv.  4?  —  "And  Abel,  he  also 
brought  of  the  fatlings  of  his  flock,  and  of 
the  fat  thereof.  And  the  Lord  had  respect 
unto  Abel  and  to  his  offering."  These  two 
boys  were  brought  up  outside  of  Eden,  and 
had  the  same  parents.  Undoubtedly  on 
the  morning  of  creation  God  marked  out 
the  way  a  man  might  come  to  Him;  and 
Abel  walked  in  God's  way,  and  Cain  in  his 
own.  Perhaps  Cain  said  he  could  not  bear 
the  sight  of  blood,  and  he  took  that  which 
God  had  cursed  and  laid  it  upon  the  altar. 
And  there  are  a  good  many 

CAINITE3    IN    THE    CHURCH 

to-day;  and  some  have  got  into  the  pulpit, 
and  they  preach  that  it  is  not  the  doctrine 
of  the  blood,  and  that  we  can  get  to  heaven 
without  the  blood.  From  the  time  Adam 
went  out  of  Eden  there  have  been  Abelites 
and  Cainites.  The  Abelites  came  by  the 
v,-ay  of  the  blood — the  way  God  has  marked 
cut  for  them.  The  Cainites  came  of  their 
o'-vn  way.  They  want  to  get  out  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  blood.  Some  preach  they 
don't  believe  in  the  blood,  and  they  say  it 
does  not  atone  for  sin.  'it  is  better  to  take 
\y  God's  word  than  man's  opinion  ; (therefore, 
turn  to  Genesis  viii.  20  —  ""And  Noah 
builded  an  altar  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  took 
of  every  clean  beast,  and  of  every  clean 
fowl,  and  offered  burnt  offerings  on  the 
altar."  We  have  thus  passed  over  the  first 
tvro  thousand  years,  and  have  come  to  the 
second  dispensation.  The  thought  I  want 
to  call  your  attention  to  is  this.  The  first 
things  Noah  did  when  he  got  out  of  the 
ark  was  to  build  an  altar  and  slay  the  ani- 
mals, thus  putting  blood  between  him  and 
his  sin.  The  second  dispensation  is  found- 
ed upon  blood,  and  it  is  most  important  that 
these  animals  were  taken  through  the  flood 
expressly  for  this  purpose.  We  find  Noah 
v.-alkingby  that  highway,  and  all  the  men 
of  God  have  been  walking  that  way,  for  it 
is  the  blood  that  atones  for  sin. 


ABRAHAM    SAW    CHRIST. 

Would  you  turn  to  Genesis  xii.  13 } — 
"  And  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes  and 
looked ;  and,  behold  !  behind  him  a  ram 
caught  in  a  thicket  by  his  horns ;  and 
Abraham  went  and  took  the  ram  and  of- 
fered him  up"  for  a  burnt  offering  in  the 
stead  of  his  son."  We  find  here  another 
type.  The  ram  was  typical ;  he  was  of- 
fered up  in  the  place  of  Abraham's  son. 
God  loved  Al:)raham  so  much  that  He 
spared  his  son ;  but  God  loved  us  so  much 
that  He  did  not  spare  His  Son,  but  freely 
gave  Him  up  for  us  all.  Here  we  find  that 
mountain-peak  sprinkled  with  blood. 
Abraham  was  willing  to  do  all  the  Lord  had 
told  him,  for  he  took  the  knife,  and  was 
ready  to  give  all  to  God.  Then  it  was 
that  God  gave  him  the  secret  of  heaven, 
and  told  him  what  he  was  to  do.  He  saw 
Christ  and  was  glad.  Jehovah  opened  the 
curtain  of  time,  and  Abraham  saw  Christ 
coming  up.  He  saw  his  sins  on  Christ  and 
was  glad — he  saw  His  day  and  was  glad. 
All  Abraham's  seed  lost  their  sins  as  much 
by  Christ  as  we.  For  4,000  years  they 
were  looking  to  the  promise  of  his  coming. 
They  were  not  looking  to  the  cross,  but  to 
the  Messiah,  and  it  was  through  Him  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  were  to  be  blessed. 
The  difference  is  that  we  look  back  to 
Calvary,  and  they  looked  forward.  Then 
again  in  Exodus  xii.  13  we  read — "  And 
the  blood  shall  be  to  you  for  a  token  upon 
the  houses  where  you  are  ;  and  when  Lsee 
the  blood  I  will  pass  over  you,  and  the 
plague  shall  not  be  upon  you  to  destroy 
you,  when  I  smite  the  land  of  Egypt."  I 
can  imagine  some  of  the  lords  and  dukes 
and  great  men,  as  they  rode  through  and 
saw  the  poor  Egyptians  sprinkling  their 
dv/ellings,  saying  they  never  saw  such 
foolishness,  for  they  were  spoiling  their 
places.  The  blood  was  to  be  put  upon  the 
door-posts  and  lintels,  and  not  upon  the 
floor,  for  that  is  what  many  are  doing  now, 

TREADING    UPON    THE    BLOOD. 

Wherever  blood  Avas  upon  the  door-post 
death  passed  over,  and  that  kept  death  out. 
It  was  not  what  they  were.  He  did  not 
say,  "  When  I  see  your  prayers,  your  good 
deeds,  I  will  pass  over  you  ;"  but  "  When 
I  see  the  blood  I  will  pass  over  you.  A 
little  child  that  night  behind  the  blood  in 
Goshen  was  as  safe  as  Moses.  People  say, 
''  If  I  was  as  good  as  that  man  who  has 
been   preaching   for   fifty   years,   or    that 


THE   GREAT  REVIVAL. 


119 


mother  in  Israel  who  has  long  labored  for 
Christ."  But  if  you  are  behind  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  you  are  as  safe  for  heaven  as 
any  man  living  on  earth.  It  ain't  when  I 
see  how  holy  you  are — hovv  you  go  to 
church  every  Sabbath — how  you  say  your 
prayers — how  you  pay  your  debts — but 
when  I  see  the  blood.  Some  one  has  said 
that  the  little  fly  in  Noah's  ark  was  as  safe 
as  the  elephant.  It  was  the  ark  that  saved 
the  fly  and  the  elephant,  and  it  is  the  blood 
that  saves  the  weakest  and  the  strongest. 
When  deatn  came  that  night  with  his 
sword,  he  entered  the  palace  of  the  prince, 
and  went  into  the  houses  of  the  great  and 
mighty,  and  they  all  had  to  pay  tribute  to 
death,  for  the  first-born  in  Egypt  was 
smitten  down  that  night.  The  only  thing 
that  kept  death  out  was  death  itself.  The 
only  way  that  death  can  be  met  is  by 
death.  I  have  sinned,  and  must  die,  or 
get  some  one  to  die  for  me.  Some  people 
say  it  isn't  the  death  of  Christ,  but  His  life. 
Suppose  some  one  had  said,  I  will  have  a 
live  lamb  ;  I  will  tie  my  little  white  lamb 
against  the  door.  Death  would  have 
passed  over  that  lamb,  and  into  the  house. 
The  blood  shall  be  a  token,  and  the  great 
question  is,  Have  you  got  the  token .?  If 
death  should  come  after  any  one  of  us  to- 
night, are  we  sheltered  behind  the  blood  } 
that  is  the  point.  It  is  the  blood  that 
atones.  Not  my  good  resolutions,  or 
prayers,  or  position  in  society,  or  what  I 
have  done,  but  what  has  been  done  by 
another.     God  looks  for  the  token. 

HAVE    YOU    GOT    THE    TOKEN  .? 

Some  one  has  made  use  of  this  illtfstra- 
tion.  You  go  down  to  a  railway  station  to 
start  for  Liverpool,  and  you  get  your  ticket 
at  the  ofiice,  but  the  man  doesn't  care  who 
you  are.  When  I  went  down  to  Liverpool 
the  other  day,  a  man  called,  "  Tickets."  I 
have  an  idea  the  man  could  not  tell 
whether  I  was  a  white  man  or  a  black  man. 
All  he  looked  for  was  the  ticket,  the  token. 
If  I  hadn't  got  the  token,  he  would  have 
put  me  out;  but,  because  I  had  the  token, 
he  passed  me.  God  says,  When  I  see  the 
token — the  blood — I  will  pass  over  you. 
If  I  am  behind  the  blood,  I  am  safe,  and 
if  I  trample  it  under  my  feet,  I  must  perish. 
These  Egyptians  made  light  of  the  He- 
brews sprinkling  their  door-posts.  The 
blood  of  Christ  is  worth  more  to  us  than 
all  the  world.  It  is  that  and  that  alone 
that  can  atone  for  sin. 


STRONG    AND    SICKLY    CHRISTIANS. 

In  the  eleventh  verse  of  the  same  chap- 
ter we  read  :  "  And  thus  shall  ye  eat  it ; 
with  your  loins  girded,  your  shoes  on  your 
fe=t.  and  your  staff  in  your  hand  ;  and  ye 
shall  eat  it  in  haste  ;  it  is  the  Lord's  Pass- 
over." Why  you  have  not  got  more  power 
is  because  you  don't  feed  on  the  Lamb  ; 
and  this  is  why  there  are  so  many  weak 
Christians.  The  Lamb  not  only  atones 
for  our  sins,  but  we  are  to  feed  upon  the 
Lamb.  We  have  got  a  wilderness  journey 
before  us,  as  the  children  of  Israel  had. 
After  we  are  saved  we  are  to  feed  upon 
Christ ;  He  is  the  true  bread  from  heaven. 
If  I  don't  feed  this  soul  with  the  true  bread 
from  heaven,  I  am  sickly,  and  have  not 
power  to  go  and  work  for  Christ.  And 
that  is  the  reason,  I  believe,  why  so  few  in 
the  Church  have  power.  Some  people 
think  if  they  have  got  one  glimpse  of  Christ 
that  is  enough.  You  in  England  think 
much  of  your  dinner,  and  why  should  not 
God's  children  think  a  good  deal  of  their 
spiritual  food  .?  We  should  no  more  think 
of  laying  in  spiritual  food  to  last  for  ten 
years  than  we  should  bodily  food.  A  good 
many  people  are  living  on  stale  manna. 
A  man  in  Ireland  said  to  his  boy, "  I  want 
you  to  eat  two  breakfasts.  Do  you  know 
why  1  "  The  boy  said  he  understood  one 
was  for  his  body  and  the  other  for  his  soul. 
All  Christians  should  take  two  breakfasts. 
Everything  dated  back  to  the  passover 
night — to  the  time  the  blood  was  put  upon 
the  door-posts.  All  the  time  you  are 
serving  the  world  it  goes  for  nought.  If 
you  have  not  come  to  Calvary  you  are 
losing  time.  Everything  you  do  on  the 
other  side  of  the  cross  counts  for  nought; 
the  first  thing  is  to  know  we  are  saved,  and 
then  we  commence  our  pilgrimage  to 
heaven.  We  don't  start,  as  some  people 
suppose,  from  the  cradle  to  heaven.  We 
start  from  the  cross.  We  have  got  a  fallen 
nature  that  is  taking  us  hellward.  We 
must  be  born  of  the  Spirit,  and 

SHELTERED  BY  THE  BLOOD, 

and  then  we  become  pilgrims  for  heaven. 
Turn  to  Exodus  xxix.  16 — "  and  thou  shalt 
slay  the  lamb,  and  thou  shalt  take  his  blood 
and  sprinkle  it  round  about  the  altar." 
Even  Aaron  could  not  come  to  God  until 
he  sprinkled  blood  round  about  the  altar. 
From  the  time  Adam  fell  there  has  been  no 
other  way  a  man  can  approach  God  but  by 
the  blood.     You  cannot  have  an  audience 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


of  God  until  you  come  by  the  way  of  the 
blood.  So  it  has  been  for  6,000  years.  It 
has  never  been  otherwise,  and  never  will 
be.  Leviticus  viii.  23 — "  And  he  slew  it ; 
and  Moses  took  of  the  blood  of  it  and  put 
it  upon  the  tip  of  Aaron's  right  ear,  and 
upon  the  thumb  of  his  right  hand,  and  up- 
on the  great  toe  of  his  right  foot."  I  had 
used  to  read  a  passage  like  this,  and  say  it 
seemed  absurd.  I  think  I  understand  it 
now.  The  blood  upon  the  ear,  that  a  man 
can  hear  the  voice  of  God.  A  man  must 
be  sheltered  behind  the  blood  before  he  can 
hear  God's  voice.  The  blood  upon  the 
hand,  that  a  man  may  work  for  God.  You 
cannot  work  for  God  until  you  are  sheltered 
behind  the  blood,  and  until  you  are  shel- 
tered it  all  stands  for  naught.  You  may 
build  churches,  endow  colleges,  pay  minis- 
ters and  missionaries  salaries,  but  it  all  goes 
for  naught  until  you  are  sheltered  behind 
the  blood.  Don't  let  any  one  deceive  you 
on  this  point.  Don't  let  Satan  deceive  you 
by  telling  you  that  you  can  get  to  heaven 
by  some  other  way.  They  asked  Christ, 
"  What  must  we  do  that  we  may  do  the 
works  of  God  }  "  Perhaps  these  men  had 
got  their  pockets  full  of  money,  and  were 
ready  and  willing  to  build  churches.  Christ 
told  them  that  the  work  of  God  was  that 
they  believed.  You  cannot  do  anything  to 
please  God  until  you  believe.  As  an  illus- 
tration, suppose  I  should  say  to  my  little 
girl,  "  Emma,  go  and  get  me  a  glass  of 
water ;  "  and  she  was  to  say,  "  I  don't  want 
to  do  it,  papa."  She  goes  into  another 
room  and  some  one  gives  her  a  cluster  of 
grapes,  which  she  decides  to  give  to  her 
papa.  Do  you  think  these  grapes  would 
be  acceptable  if  she  did  not  want  to  get  the 
water.?  I  should  say,  "  I  do  not  want  the 
grapes  until  you  have  brought  the  water. 
She  goes  out  of  the  room  again,  and  some 
one  gives  her  an  orange.  If  she  brought 
the  orange  to  me,  do  you  think  I  should 
want  it .'  Ten  thousand  times  no,  and  that 
child  cannot  do  anything  to  please  me  until 
I  get  the  water.  You  cannot  please  God 
tintil  you  believe  on  His  Son. 

THE  CHURCH  NEEDS  TO  BE  ON  FIRE. 

'  I  wish  the  Church  was  on  fire,  and  I  wish 
all  Christians  were  on  fire.  Don't  let  us 
set  dead  men  to  work.  I  don't  believe  in 
unconverted  Sabbath-school  teachers  and 
unconverted  men  working  in  the  Church, 
and  1  hope  the  line  will  ere  long  be  drawn. 
God  has  given  an  unspeakable  gift — the 
Son  of  His  bosom — and  if  wereject  that 


Son  and  won't  follow  Him,  do  you  think 
anything  we  can  do  will  please  God.''  The 
blood  upon  the  hand  is  that  a  man  may 
work  for  God,  and  on  the  foot  that  a  man 
may  walk  with  God.  When  Adam  fell  he 
fell  out  of  communion  with  God.  Before  he 
fell,  he  walked  with  God,  but  the  moment 
he  fell  out  of  communion  with  Him,  and 
from  that  time  to  this  He  has  been  trying 
to  get  men  back  into  communion.  God  is 
full  of  truth  and  justice.  His  justice  must 
be  met,  and  after  that  has  been  met  He  is 
satisfied.  God  never  walked  with  men  un- 
til He  put  them  behind  the  blood  at  Goshen. 
What  could  stand  before  them  then  ?  They 
passed  through  the  Red  Sea,  and  God  said 
to  Joshua,  ''  Take  this  country,  and  no 
man  shall  be  able  to  stand  before  you  all 
the  days  of  your  life."  Look  at  Joshua 
walking  round  Jericho,  and  as  he  does  so  a 
man  stands  before  him  with  a  sword  in  his 
hand.  Joshua  steps  up  to  him  and  says, 
"  Art  thou  for  us,  or  against  us .''  "  He  was 
to  lead  them  on  to  victory,  but  God  was 
testing  Joshua's  faith.  When  God  gave 
them  Saul  as  their  king,  they  raised  the 
cry,  "  God  save  the  king !  "  and  this  cry 
has  been  raised  ever  since.  They  then,  so 
to  speak,  voted  God  out  when  they  had 
got  a  king.  In  the  days  of  Joshua  there 
were  whole  regiments  of  giants,  but  one 
stripling  from  the  Lord's  hosts  defeated  the 
giant  of  Gath.  If  God  is  with  us,  the 
giants  will  be  like  grasshoppers ;  but  if  God 
is  not  with  us,  it  will  be  different.  I  would 
rather  have  ten  men  separated  from  the 
world,  than  ten  thousand  nominal  Chris- 
tians who  go  to  the  prayer-meeting  to-night 
and  the  hall  to-morrow.  The  Church  and 
the*  world  are  mixed  up  into  one.  Now 
turn  to  Leviticus  xvii.  11 — "  For  the  life  of 
the  flesh  is  in  the  blood ;  and  I  have  given 
it  to  you  upon  the  altar  to  make  an  atone- 
ment for  your  souls,  for  it  is  the  blood  that 
maketh  an  atonement  for  the  soul."  There 
may  be  some  who  are  saying.  Why  does 
God  demand  blood.'  Some  one  said  to 
me,"  I  detest  your  God,  He  demands  blood ; 
I  don't  believe  in  such  a  God,  for  my  God 
is  merciful  to  all."  I  want  to  say,  my  God 
is  full  of  mercy,  but  don't  be  so  blind  as  to 
believe  that  God  is  not  just,  and  that  He 
has  not  got  a  government.  Suppose  Queen 
Victoria  didn't  like  any  man  to  be  de- 
prived of  his  liberty,  and  she  threw  all  her 
prisons  open,  and  v/as  so  merciful  that  she 
could  not  bear  any  one  to  suffer  for  guilt, 
how  long  would  she  hold  the  sceptre  ?  how 
long   would   she   rule   this  empire  ?     Not 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


twenty-four  hours.  Those  very  men  who 
cry  out  about  God  being  merciful  would 
say,  "  We  don't  want  such  a  Queen." 

A  REVOLT  IN  HEAVEN. 

God  is  merciful,  but  He  isn't  going  to 
take  an  unredeemed  sinner  into  heaven.  If 
He  did,  the  redeemed  would  plant  the 
banner  of  rebellion  round  the  throne,  and 
there  would  be  a  revolt.  This  verse  tells 
why  God  demands  blood.  Atonement 
means  at-one  at-one-ment.  God  demands 
blood  because  He  said  to  Adam,  "  On  the 
day  thou  sinnest  thou  must  die."  Sin 
came  into  the  world  and  brought  death 
into  the  world.  God's  words  must  be  kept. 
I  must  either  die  or  get  somebody  to  die 
for  me,  and  in  the  fulness  of  time  Christ 
comes  forward  to  die  for  the  sinner.  He 
was  without  sin,  but  if  He  had  committed 
one  sin  He  would  have  had  to  die  for  His 
own  sin.  The  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the 
blood,  and  it  is  not  blood  He  demands 
really,  it  is  life,  and  life  has  been  forfeited. 
We  have  sinned,  and  death  must  come,  or 
justice  must  take  its  course.  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest  to  think  He  sent  His 
Son,  born  of  a  woman,  to  take  our  nature 
and  die  in  our  stead,  tasting  death  for 
every  man.  You  take  this  blood  out  of 
this  body  of  mine,  and  life  is  gone. 

GOD  DEMANDS  BLOOD. 

He  demands  life.  Man  has  sinned, 
therefore  life  must  be  forfeited,  and  I  must 
die  or  find  somebody  to  die  for  me.  My 
friends,  I  have  only  just  touched  this  sub- 
ject. If  you  read  your  Bibles  carefully 
you  will  find  the  scarlet  thread  running 
tlirough  the  Bible.  It  commenced  in  Eden 
and  flows  on  to  Revelation.  I  cannot  find 
anything  to  tell  me  the  way  to  heaven  but 
by  the  blood.  That  book  (holding  up  the 
Bible)  wouldn't  be  worth  carrying  home  if 
you  take  the  scarlet  thread  out  of  it,  and 
it  don't  teach  anything  else,  for  the  blood 
commences  in  Genesis  and  goes  on  to  Rev- 
elation. That  is  what  this  Book  is  written 
for.  It  tells  its  own  story,  and  if  a  man 
should  come  and  preach  another  gospel 
don't  you  believe  him.  If  an  angel  should 
come  and  preach  anything  else  don't  be- 
live  it.  And  if  you  are  in  a  church,  either 
Dissenting  or  Established,  and  the  min- 
ister doesn't  preach  the  blood,  you  get  out 
of  it  as  Lot  did  out  of  Sodom.  Don't 
trifle  with  this  subject  of  the  blood.  In 
your  dying  hour  you  would  give  more  to 
be  sheltered  behind  this  blood  than  for  all 


the  world.  Christ  died  for  us,  and  all  1 
have  to  do  is  to  accept  Him.  Christ  said, 
"  You  take  My  life  and  I  will  take  your 
sins."  Don't  you  want  to  make  this  bar- 
gain .?  Death  shall  never  have  his  hand 
on  Christ  again.  Christ  says.  My  life  i? 
yours.  I  will  have  it.  Won't  you  .^  Isn't 
it  the  height  of  madness  for  any  one  of  you 
to  go  out  of  this  place  and  not  accept  it.'' 
Christ  laid  down  His  life  that  you  and  I 
might  live,  and  now  out  of  gratitude  ought 
we  not  to  serve  Him  }  Some  people  think 
it  ig,  noble  to  lift  up  their  voice  against 
Christ,  but  it  is  a  cowardly  act. 

THE  mother's  love. 

In  the  time  of  the  Californian  gold  fever 
a  man  went  to  the  diggings,  and  left  his 
wife  to  follow  him  some  time  afterwards. 
While  on  her  voyage  with  her  little  boy 
the  vessel  caught  fire,  and  as  there  was 
a  powder  magazine  on  board  the  captain 
knew  when  the  flames  reached  it  the  ship 
would  be  blown  up.  The  fire  could  not 
be  got  under,  so  they  took  to  the  life-boats, 
but  there  was  not  room  for  all.  As  the 
last  boat  pushed  off  the  mother  and  boy 
stood  on  the  deck.  One  of  the  sailors  said 
there  was  room  for  another.  What  did  the 
mother  do.'' — she  gave  up  her  boy.  She 
kissed  him,  and  told  him  if  he  lived,  to  see 
his  father  to  tell  him  she  died  to  save  her 
boy.  Do  you  think  when  that  boy  grew 
up  he  could  fail  to  love  that  mother  who 
died  to  save  him  1  My  friends,  this  is  a  faint 
type  of  what  Christ  has  done  for  you  and 
me.  He  died  for  our  sins.  He  left  heaven 
for  that  purpose.  Will  you  go  away  say- 
ing, I  see  no  beauty  in  Him .?  May  God  break 
every  heart  here  to-day !  and  may  we  become 
loyal  to  Him  !  You  will  need  Him  when 
you  come  to  cross  the  swelling  of  Jordan. 
You  will  need  Him  when  you  go  up  to  the 
bar  of  God.  For  death  to  come  and  find 
without  Christ,  and  God,  and  hope, — may 
God  forbid ! 

THE  FIRST  PREACHERS  OF  THE  BLOOD. 


./} 


I  want  to  follow  up  the  subject  of  yestei*  \/ 
day,  and  those  of  you  who  were  present  • 
then  will  remember  I  was  speaking  of  "  The 
Blood  "  especially  in  the  Old  Testament. 
This  afternoon  I  will  take  up  the 
subject  from  the  New  Testament. 
When  I  was  in  Dublin  I  gave  a  lecture  on 
"  The  Blood,"  and  a  lady  wrote  me  and 
said,  if  the  blood  was  so  important,  why 
was  it  the  early  preachers,  the  apostles, 
and  Christ  Himself  never  referred  to  it.? 


122 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES. 


I  hadn't  time  to  write  to  the  lady,  but  I 
wish  she  was  present  to-day,  for  I  will 
prove  that  the  early  Chrstians  preached 
nothing  else.  Would  you  turn  to  Acts  ii. 
22-36.  It  was  Christ  and  Him  crucified 
the  apostles  preached,  and  nothing  else. 
It  was  this  preaching  God  blessed,  and 
which  brought  so  many  in  one  day  to  the 
cross  of  Christ.  [To  further  prove  this,  JMr. 
Moody  quoted  Acts  iv.  10,  Acts  v.  29,  Acts 
vii.  52,  Acts  viii.  32,  Actsxvii.  2,  18,  31 ;  He- 
brews ix.  22  ;  Matthew  xxvi.  28,  Revelations 
i.  5.]  If  a  man  makes  light  of  the  blood^how 
is  he  going  to  be  washed  in  it .''  If  he  makes 
light  of  the  blood,  how  is  he  going  to  get 
rid  of  his  sins .''  and  how  is  he  going  to 
stard  before  that  pure  God  unless  his 
sins  are  washed  away .-'  A'  great  many 
people  think  God  never  loves  them  until 
they  get  rid  of  their  sins,  and  because  they 
are  so  vile  they  cannot  come  to  God  — 
"  unto  Him  that  loved  us  and  washed 
us."  He  loves  us  in  our  sins,  saves  us 
from  our  sins,  and  washes  us  and 
clothes  us  with  His  own  garment,  and 
then  we  are  able  to  have  communion 
with  Him.  Satan  says  God  will  not  love 
you  because  you  are  not  pure.  But  let  us 
keep  to  Scripture — "  unto  Him  that  loved 
us  and  washed  us."  Like  the  good  Samari- 
tan who  went  to  the  poor  man  who  fell 
among  thieves,  so  Christ  comes  to  the 
sinner  where  he  is.  You  cannot  make 
yourselves  clean,  therefore  stay  where  you 
are.  Let  Christ  wash  you,  for  our  good 
intentions  and  prayers  cannot  atone  for 
sin. 

THE    NEW    AND    LIVING    WAY. 

Heb.  X.  19,  20 — "  Having,  therefore,  breth- 
ren, boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  by  a  new  and  living 
way  which  He  hath  consecrated  for  us, 
through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say.  His  tlesh." 
When  Christ  expired  on  the  cross  the  veil 
of  the  temple  was  rent,  and  as  somebody 
said,  not  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  but 
from  the  top  down.  Thanks  be  to  God, 
we  don't  need  any  one  to  plead  for  us,  for 
we  can  come  right  into  His  presence,  for 
we  are  all  priests  now.  I  want  to  say  to 
you  who  are  running  to  this  man  and 
that  man  to  plead  for  you,(^o  right  to  the 
V  Master  yourselvest.,'  Let  us  come  by  this 
new  and  living  way  Christ  has  made  for  us 
by  rending  the  veil.  Christ's  flesh  v/as 
nailed  to  that  cross  to  open  the  living  way. 
Before  only  the  high  priest  could  go  into 
the  holiest  of  holies,  but  the  moment  Christ 


expired  He  made  us  all  priests.  Some  one 
may  remark,  "  It  says  confess  your  sins 
one  to  another ;  "  but  if  I  have  sinned 
against  a  man  I  must  confess  to  him,  and 
must  also  confess  to  God.  If  I  have 
caused  man  to  stumble  I  must  go  and  re- 
move that  stumbling-block  out  of  the  way. 
The  only  man,  it  is  said,  who  confessed 
his  sins  to  man  was  Judas,  and  he  hung 
himself.  Peter  confessed  to  God,  and  God 
forgave  him.  Numbers  xxviii.  4 — "  The 
one  lamb  shall  thou  offer  in  the  morning, 
and  the  other  lamb  shall  thou  offer  in  the 
even."  That  was  done  continually,  and 
the  priest  could  never  take  his  seat  in  the 
holiest  of  holies  because  his  work  was 
never  done.  Now  turn  to  Hebrews  x.  12 
— "  But  this  man,  after  he  had  offered  one 
sacrifice  for  sins,  for  ever  sat  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  God."  The  blood  of  Christ 
is  enough  to  cover  every  sin  that  was  com- 
mitted. All  the  lambs  on  the  other  side  of 
the  cross  were  typical.  They  were  point- 
ing to  the  true  sacrifice,  and  they  were  all 
fulfilled  in  Him.  We  don't  need  to  make 
any  more  sacrifice.  He  has  made  sacrifice 
Himself,  and  has  made  full  atonement  for 
every  sin.  All  we  have  now  to  do  is  to 
trust  the  sacrifice.  God  says,  I  am  satis- 
fied with  the  finished  work  of  Christ,  and 
the  moment  the  sinner  is  satisfied,  God 
and  the  sinner  are  united.     The 

BLOOD    HAS    TWO    CRIES. 

It  either  cries  for  my  condemnation,  which 
means  damnation, — excuse  the  strong  ex- 
pression,— or  for  my  salvation.  If  I  make 
light  of  the  blood  and  trample  it  under  my 
feet,  then  it  cries  out  for  God's  condemna- 
tion ;  but  if  I  am  sheltered  behind  the 
blood,  there  is  no  condemnation  for  me. 
God  dealt  in  judgment  with  Cain,  and 
when  Pilate  wanted  to  know  what  to  do 
with  Christ,  he  washed  his  hands  and  said 
he  was  innocent.  The  Jews  said.  Let  His 
blood  be  upon  us  and  our  children,  not  to 
save  us,  but  to  condemn  us.  Would 
they  had  said,  Let  His  blood  be  upon 
us  to  save  us  and  protect  us.  Nearly 
1,900  years  have  rolled  away,  and  the 
Jews  are  wanderers  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  without  a  king.  Their  having 
been  scattered  all  these  years,  Avhat  a  proof 
it  is  the  Word  of  God  is  true  !  May  our 
prayer  be  to-day,  His  blood  be  upon  us 
and  our  children,  not  to  condemn  us,  but 
to  save  us.  Let  that  be  our  prayer,  that 
we  may  know  what  it  is  to  be  sheltered  be- 
hind the  blood  of  God's  dear  Son.     Colos- 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


123 


sians  i.  20 — "And  having  made  peace 
through  the  blood  of  His  cross,  by  Him  to 
reconcile  all  things  unto  Himself;  by  Him, 
r  say,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth  or 
things  in  heaven."  The  blood  of  the  cross 
speaks  peace.     If  I  am 

SHELTERED    BEHIND    THE    BLOOD 

there  is  peace,  and  there  is  no  peace  until 
my  sin  is  covered.  If  you  had  committed 
sin  against  a  man  you  would  get  no  peace 
until  that  was  forgiven.  Men  are  running 
after  peace,  and  if  it  could  be  bought  in 
the  market,  many  would  give  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  pounds  to  secure  it.  The 
blood  of  Christ  speaks  peace,  and  it  will 
bring  peace  to  every  guilty  conscience  and 
aching  heart  to-day  if  you  only  seek  it. 
John  xi.x.  34 — "  But  one  of  the  soldiers 
with  a  spear  pierced  His  side,  and  forth- 
with came  thereout  blood  and  water." 
There  is  a  beautiful  thought  contained  in 
this  verse.  The  spear  that  went  into  the 
side  of  the  Son  of  God  was  the  crowning 
point  of  earth  and  hell.  I  don't  see  how 
they  could  have  done  a  more  cruel  thing 
than  that.  You  may  say  that  was  the 
crowning  act  of  sin.  And  the  blood  came 
out  and  covered  the  spear,  and  a  fountain 
was  thus  open  in  the  house  of  David  for 
sin.  The  iDlood  touched  the  Roman  spear, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  He  had  the 
Roman  Government.  The  blood  ran  down 
from  His  side,  and  God  will  have  the 
world  by-and-by.  He  is  the  true  Sovereign, 
and  He  will  cast  out  the  prince  of  darkness, 
and  will  sway  His  sceptre  from  end  to  end 
of  the  earth.  He  has  redeemed  the  earth 
by  His  blood,  and  He  will  have  all  He  has 
redeemed,  bear  that  in  mind. 

HAS    THE    BLOOD    TOUCHED   YOU? 

The  blood  of  Christ  makes  us  one,  brings 
us  into  the  family  of  God,  and  enables  us 
to  cry,  "  Abba,  Father."  During  the  days 
of  slavery  in  America,  when  there  was 
much  political  strife  and  strong  prejudice 
against  the  black  men,  especially  by  Irish- 
men, I  heard  a  preacher  say  when  he 
came  to  the  cross  for  salvation  he  found  a 
poor  negro  on  the  right  hand  and  an  Irish- 
man on  the  left  hand,  and  the  blood  came 
trickling  down  upon  them  and  made  them 
one.  There  may  be  strife  in  the  world,  but 
every  one  Christ  has  redeemed  He  has 
made  one.  We  are  blood  relatives.  When 
I  go  before  an  audience  there  ain't  hardly 
a  person  I  have  seen  before ;  but  as  I 
begin  to  talk  about  the  Kingdom  their  eyes 


light  up,  and  isay  they  are  kinsmen,  they 
are  blood  relatives,  and  in  a  short  time  I 
become  attached  to  them.  A  man  may  go 
into  a  town  a  perfect  stranger,  but  how 
soon  will  he  find  out  those  who  love  God, 
and  they  will  be  one.  I  wish  Christians 
had  more  of  this  oneness.  I  hope  the  time 
will  soon  come  when  these  sectarian  walls 
will  be  broken  down,  and  people  will  not 
want  to  ask  whether  you  belong  to  the  Es- 
tablished, Wesleyan,  or  Baptist  Churches. 
Here,  mind,  we  are  blood  relatives. 
Thomas  thrust  his  hand  into  the  Master's 
side,  and  He  was.  afterwards  seen  by  over 
500  at  once.  The  apostles  saw  Him  go 
back  to  Heaven,  but  the  blood  which 
flowed  on  Calvary  is  there,  and  I  believe 

GOD  IS  GOING  TO  JUDGE  THE  WORLD  BY  THE 
BLOOD. 

— "  What  did  you  do  with  the  blood .?  " 
If  we  make  light  of  that  blood,  and  send 
back  an  insulting  message,  saying  we  don't 
want  the  blood  of  God's  dear  Son,  we  shall 
stand  speechless  before  God's  tribunal. 
What  have  you  done  with  God's  blood .' 
If  we  make  light  of  that  blood  what  is  go- 
ing to  become  of  our  souls.?  Hebrews  x. 
28,  29 — "  He  that  despised  Moses'  law 
died  without  mercy  under  two  or  three 
witnesses.  Of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment, suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought 
worthy  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the 
Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood 
of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sancti- 
fied, an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done 
despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  }  "  To  me 
these  are  very  solemn  verses.  I  don't  see 
how  any  one  can  sit  here  and  hear  these 
verses  read  and  not  be  saved.  I  don't  care 
what  you  are  or  what  your  life  has  been, 
if  you  have  rejected  Christ  up  to  the 
present  time.  Let  me  read  these  verses 
again.  They  died  without  mercy ;  but 
how  much  more  sore  will  be  the  punish- 
ment of  those  who  live  in  the  age  with  an 
open  Bible  vv^hich  tells  how  Christ  died  to 
redeem  us,  and  make  us  heirs  of  heaven. 
Revelation  xii.  11 — "And  they  overcame 
him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the 
word  of  their  testimony,  and  they  loved 
not  their  lives  unto  the  death."  I  don't 
believe  there  is  a  word  in  the  Bible  Satan 
is  fearing  more  than  the  word  blood.  I 
shall  receive  a  good  many  letters  to-mor- 
row attacking  me  for  what  I  have  said  to- 
day. These  letters  will  say  it  is  heathen- 
ish to  stand  up  and  preach  what  would 
Ohly  do  for  an  unenlightened  age.     May 


124. 


SERAfONS  AND   ADDRESSES. 


God  forgive  anyone  who  j^ould  dare  to 
teach  such  a  thing.  If  you  will  read  your 
Bible  in  the  light  of  Calvary,  you  will  find 
there  is  no  other  way  of  coming  to  heaven 
but  by  the  blood.  The  devil  don't  fear 
10,000  preachers  who  preach  a  bloodless 
religion.  A  man  who  preaches  a  bloodless 
religion  is  doing  the  devil's  work,  and  I 
don't  care  who  he  is.  It  is  said  of  old  Dr. 
Alexander,  of  Princeton  Seminary,  that  as 
the  students  left,  he  would  take  them  by 
the  hand,  and  say,  "  Young  man,  make 
much  of  the  blood — 

MAKE    MUCH   OF    THE    BLOOD." 

As  I  have  traveled  up  and  down  Chris- 
tendom, I  have  found  out  that  a  minister 
who  gives  a  clear  sound  upon  this  doctring 
is  successful.  A  man  who  covers  up  the 
cross,  though  he  may  be  an  intellectual 
man,  and  draw  large  crowds,  there  will  be 
no  life  there,  and  his  church  will  be  like  a 
gilded  sepulchre.  Those  men  who  preach 
the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  holding  up  Christ 
as  the  sinner's  only  hope  of  heaven,  and  as 
the  sinner's  only  Substitute,  and  make 
much  of  the. blood,  God  honors,  and  souls 
are  always  saved  in  the  church  where  that 
'is  preached.  I  don't  like  to  give  advice  to 
these  gray-haired  ministers,  but  make  much 
of  the  blood.  May  God  help  us  to  make 
much  of  the  blood  of  His  Son.  It  cost 
God  so  much  to  give  us  this  blood,  and 
shall  we  try  to  keep  it  from  the  world 
which  is  perishing  from  the  want  of  it  ? 
The  world  can  get  along  without  us,  but 
not  without  Christ.  Let  us  preach  Christ 
in  season  and  out  of  season.  Let  us  go  to 
the  sick  and  dying,  and  hold  up  the 
Saviour  who  came  to  seek  and  save  them, 
and  died  to  redeem  them.  It  is  said  of 
Julian,  the  apostate  in  Rome,  that  when  he 
was  trying  to  stamp  out  Christianity,  he 
was  pierced  in  the  side  by  an  arrow.  He 
pulled  the  arrow  out,  and  taking  a  handful 
of  blood  as  it  flowed  from  the  wound, 
threw  it  into  the  air,  shouting,  "  Thou 
Galileean,  Thou  hast  conquered  !  "  Yes, 
this  Galileean  is  going  to  conquer.  May 
God  help  us  to  give  no  uncertain  sound  on 
this  doctrine.  I  woul  i  rather  give  up  my 
life  than  give  up  this  doctrine.  Take  that 
away,  and  what  is  my  hope  of  heaven  } 
Am  1  to  depend  upon  my  works .?  Away 
with  it  when  it  comes  to  "fhe^question  of 
salvation.  '  I  must  get  salvation  distinct 
and  separate  from  work,  for  it  is  to  him 
that  worketh  not  and  believeth.    None  ^\\ 


walk  the  celestial  pavement  of  heaven  but 
those  washed  in  the  blood.  The  first  man 
that  went  up  from  this  earth  was  Abel 
probably.  You  can  see  Abel  putting  his 
little  lamb  upon  the  altar,  thus  placing 
blood  between  him  and  his  sin.  Abel  sang 
a  song  the  angels  could  not  join  in.  There  ' 
must  have  been 

ONE  SOLO  SONG  IN  HEAVEN, 

because  Abel  had  no  one  to  join  him.  But 
there  is  a  great  chorus  now,  for  the  re- 
deemed have  been  going  up  for  6,000  years, 
and  they  sing  of  Him  who  is  worthy  to  re- 
ceive honor  because  He  died  to  save  us 
from  hell  and  damnation.  Revelation  vii. 
14  —  "And  I  said  unto  him.  Sir,  thou 
knowest.  And  he  said  to  me.  These  are 
they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation, 
and  have  washed  their  robes,  and  made 
them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 
Sinner,  how  are  you  going  to  get  your  robes 
clean  if  you  don't  get  them  washed  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb  }  How  are  you  going 
to  wash  them  ?  Can  you  make  them  clean } 
I  hope  at  last  we  shall  get  back  to  the  para- 
dise above.  There  they  are  singing  the 
sweet  song  of  redemption,  and  may  it  be 
the  happy  lot  of  each  of  us  to  join  them. 
It  may  be  a  few  months  at  the  longest  be- 
fore we  shall  be  there,  and  shout  the  song 
of  redemption,  and  sing  the  sweet  song  of 
Moses  and  the  Lamb.  If  you  die  without 
Christ,  without  hope,  and  without  God, 
where  will  you  be  .''  Sinner,  be  wise  !  don't 
make  light  of  the  blood.  An  aged  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  when  on  his  dying  bed,  said, 
"  Bring  me  the  Bible."  Putting  his  finger 
upon  the  verse,  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
His  Son,  cleanses  us  from  all  sin,"  he  said. 
"  I  die  in  the  hope  of  this  verse."  It  wasn't 
his  fifty  years'  preaching,  but  the  blood  of 
Christ.  When  we  stand  before  God's  tri- 
bunal we  shall  be  as  pure  as  God,  because 
we  shall  be  washed  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb.  During  the  American  war  a  doctor 
heard  a  man  saying,  "  Blood,  b^ood,  blood  !" 
The  doctor  thought  this  was  because  he 
had  seen  so  much  blood,  and  sought  to  di- 
vert his  mind.  The  man  smiled,  and  said, 
"  I  wasn't  thinking  of  the  blood  upon  the 
battle-field,  but  I  was  thinking  how  pre- 
cious the  blood  of  Christ  is  to  me  as  I  am 
dying."  As  he  died,  his  lips  quivered, 
"  Blood,  blood,  blood  I"  and  he  was  gone. 
It  w;ll  be  precious  when  we  come  to  our 
dying  bed — it  will  be  worth  more  than  all 
the  world  then. 


THE  GREAT  REVIVAL. 


125 


LOSING  THE   BRAKE. 

A  stage-driver  away  on  the  Pacific  coast 
— as  I  was  told  when  I  was  there  about 
three  years  ago — while  lying  on  his  dying 
bed,  kept  moving  one  of  his  feet  up  and 
down,  saying,  "  I  am  on  the  down  grade, 
and  cannot  reach  the  brake."  As  they  told 
me  of  it  I  thought  how  many  were  on  the 
down  grade  and  could  not  reach  the  brake, 
and  were  dying  without  God  and  without 
hope.  I  plead  with  you  as  a  fellow  traveler ; 
don't  go  out  of  this  hall  without  saying, 
Keaven  is  my  home  and  God  is  my  Father. 
Don't  let  the  scoffers  laugh  you  into  hell ; 
they  cannot  laugh  you  out  of  it.  The  blood 
is  upon  the  mercy-seat,  and  while  it  is  upon 
the  mercy-seat  you  go  into  the  kingdom- 
God  says,  "  There  is  the  blood ;  it  is  all  I 
have  to  give."  The  blood  is  there,  and  God 
says,  '  As  long  as  it  is  there,  there  is  hope 
for  you.  I  am  satisfied  with  the  finished 
work  of  My  Son  and  will  you  be  satisfied." 


Don't  go  out  until  you  can  claim  this  as 
yours.  Think  of  that  atheist  we  have  been 
praying  for  who  is  dying.  I  hope  he  will 
lay  hold  of  Christ  before  he  dies.  How 
dark  and  sad  it  is  to  go  to  the  bed-side  of 
a  dying  infidel  or  atheist,  or  one  who  is 
dying  without  the  light  of  the  resurrection 
morn.  I  hope  the  light  will  burst  in  upon 
him  before  it  is  too  late.  If  we  trust  to 
Christ,  death  has  lost  its  sting  and  the  grave 
its  victory.  You  may  have  read  of  that 
good  man  in  America,  Alfred  Cookman. 
While  his  friends  were  gathered  round  his 
dying  couch  his  face  lit  up,  and  with  a 
shout  of  triumph,  he  said,  "  I  am  sweeping 
through  the  gates,  washed  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb  !"  And  this  echoes  and  re-echoes 
through  America  to-day,  "  I  am  sweeping 
Jhrough  the  gates,  washed  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb  !"  May  these  be  our  last  words, 
and  there  will  be  no  trouble  then  about  an 
entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 


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Cons  Bissell,  A.M.  With  an  Inti-oduction  by  Prof.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  D.D., 
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Please  Head  this  Descrljitioyi  of  the  Book. 

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I  ritical  history  of  the  English  HiUe,  together  with  an  exceedingly  valuable  Appendix  of  fifty  closely  printed 
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Christian  scholars  in  England  and  America,  both  for  and  against  revisiwi.  While  showing  the  more  impor- 
tant defects  of  our  version,  07i  which  the  plea  for  such  a  tcork  is  based,  it  brings  down  to  date  the  history  of 
thi' recent  movement  undertakenby  the  Co7ivccation  of  Canterbury,  and  thusjyuts  the  general  reader  in  possession 
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"  The  results  of  a  vast  mass  of  Biblical  learning  are  here  presented  in  an  intelligible  and  practical  form.  Al- 
though the  work  exhibits  the  fruits  of  wide  research  and  mature  scholarship,  the  author  has  evidently  had  in 
view  the  demands  of  common  readers  rather  than  the  ux.gencies  of  professional  students.  lie  treats  first  of  the 
history  of  the  English  Bible  in  its  ditferent  versions  and  fragments  of  verdons,  giving  a  succinct  account  of  the 
labors  of  Tyudale  and  other  translators,  before  the  so-called  authorized  varsiou ;  then  of  the  Nev/  Testament,  the 
manuscripts,  the  ancient  versions  and  printed  text,  the  canon,  and  the  different  books  in  succession ;  closing 
with  the  Old  Testament,  under  similar  heads  ;  and  an  appendix  containing  remarks  on  the  Apocrypha  and  the  re- 
cision  of  the  current  translation.  Pruhahly  no  othm'  icork  in  the  htnguage  contains  so  much  accurate  injormation 
3/1  th'  suhject,  in  so  convenient  a  form."— Tribune. 

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at  the  command  of  every  reader  information  which,  heretofore,  has  been  attainable  only  at  the  cost  of  such  study 
and  research  as  is  possible  only  to  the  professed  Biblical  scholar.  The  author  does  not  undertake  to  produce  new 
evidence  or  new  arguments  ;  but,  in  the  discussion  of  the  materials  before  him,  he  develops  a  fine  critical  acu- 
men, and  in  his  independent  reasoning  i^  generally  forcible.  The  work  will  be  found  very  serviceable  to  clergj'- 
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telligent account  of  the  origin  and  history  of  the  Bible,  that,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  ever  been  printed."—  Literary 
World. 

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saults of  modern  criticism.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  given  themselves  to  increased  study,  and  will  meet  book 
by  book  ....  The  present  work  bears  evidence  of  scholarship  and  reverential  study.  The  appendices  are  by  no 
means  the  least  valuable  portion  of  the  volume.  An  index  of  authorities,  of  passages  of  Scripture  cited  or  illus- 
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"  It  is  an  excellent  companion  to  the  Bible." — Evening  Mail. 

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o 

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EngUsh.  In  three  Parts,  complete  in  One  Volume.  Fart  I. — The  English  Bible. 
Part  II. — The  New  Testament.  Part  III. — The  Old  Testament.  With  Appendices  : 
/. — Leading  Opinions  on  Revision.  II. — On  the  Apocrypha.  By  Rev.  Edward 
CoN-E  BissELL,  x\.M.  With  an  Introduction  by  Prof.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  D.D., 
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From  the  Rev.  WM.  A.  STEARNS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Amlierst  College. 
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From  the  Rev.  WILLIAM  S.  TYLER,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  * 

"Williston  Professor  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature,  Amherst  College. 
'*  My  examination  couflrms  me  in  my  opinion,  formed  from  a  cursory  examination  of  the  manuscript,  of  the 
great  value  and  merits  of  the  hook.  It  covers  a  very  wide  field  ;  much  of  it  hitherto  accessible  only  to  scholars, 
but  all  of  great  interest  and  importance  to  every  reader  of  the  Scriptures.  It  meets  a  want  widely  felt  by  the 
iutelli°-ent  Christian  public,  by  answering,  in  a  clear  and  satisfactory  manner,  a  multitude  of  questions  which 
they  have  hitherto  had  no  means  of  answering.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  so  much  accuracy,  thoroughness, 
patience,  and  conscientiousness  in  the  investigation  and  treatment  of  the  subject,  that  the  book  is  entitled  to  a 
hi"h  rank  among  the  helps  of  educated  men,  ministers,  and  biblical  scholars.  The  remarkable  candor  and  fair- 
ness of  the  book  is  amon^  its  chief  recommendations.  The  author  seeks  only  to  ascertain  the  truth,  not  to 
establish  a  theory,  or  support  a  tradition." 

From  Prof.  GEORGE  COOKE,  Boston,  Mass. 
"  This  is  just  the  book  which  many  a  student  has  been  waiting  for.  Besides  its  professed  value  to  theological 
and  sabbath  school  study,  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  contributions  to  the  study  of 
general  history  ;  giving  as  it  docs,  in  compact  and  thoroughly  sustained  forms  of  testimony,  the  vital  pivotal  facts 
of  the  world's  progress  in  civilization.  Such  a  work  most  legitimately  belongs  to  every  thorough  plan  or  coarse 
of  historical  study ;  to  the  curriculum  of  every  school  or  college  atlecting  a  thorough  study  of  history  ;  not  only 
that  superficial  and  vapid  scepticism  as  to  the  claims  of  the  I'.ible  may  be  held  in  check,  but  that  the  springs  and 
progress  of  human  culture  may  be  the  most  truthfully  apprehended. 

From  the  Rev.  A.  L.  STONE,  San  Francisco,  Cal." 
"The  book  is  a  memorial  of  diligent  study,  patient  research,  accurate  scholarship,  and  an  ability  to  digest 
and  reproduce,  in  orderly  and  effective  method,  the  minutest  material." 

From  the  PRINCETOI*  REVIEW. 
"It  is  a  very  scholarly  book,  of  decided  value  and  interest,  not  only  for  ministers  and  theological  students, 
but  for  intelligent  Christians." 

From  the  CHITRCTI  AND  STATE. 
"  It  is  with  especial  pleasure  that  we  can  recommend  tie  work,  which  is  at  once  thorough,  exhaustive  even, 
In  its  presentation  of  the  results  of  Biblical  investigation  ui  its  specific  department,  and,  from  beginning  to  end, 
represents  wise  discrimination  and  pains-taking  research  i.i  the  selection  and  presentation  of  its  material." 
From  the  CONGRE  NATIONALIST. 
"  For  a  book  of  reference,  we  have  never  seen  one  mo.  j  conveniently  prepared." 

From  the  CHRISTIAN  AT  WORK. 
"  It  is  an  intensely  interesting  book." 

From  the  PACIFIC. 
"We  cordially  recommend  the  book  as  a  worthy,  right  honest  and  faithful  piece  of  literary  and  Christian 
work.    The  printer  and  publisher  have  done  themselves  honor  in  its  mechanical  presentation." 
AXSOX  D.  F.  RAJiDOLPII  &  CO.,  770  Broachvay.  cor.  5)lh  Street,  New  York. 

Sent  by  mall,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  tlie  price,  $2.50. 

{Tarnox,er.\ 


"  A  perfect  Harvest-nest  of  Good  Things.'''' 

Recently  Published  in  a  handsome  octavo  vol.,  cloth  extra,  $2.50; 
gilt  edg'es,  $3.50;  Half  calf,  $5.00;  Mor.  extra,  $6.50. 

pcninjf)  uiitl|  the  mtxd  :poct^» 

A  Series  of  Quiet  Talks  about  the  Singers 
and  their  Songs. 

BY  THE   AUTHOR  OP 

"  FESTIVAL  OF  SONG,"  "  SALAD  FOR  THE  SOLITARY,"  Etc. 


"Mr.  SAUNDERg,  whose  "  Salad  for  the  Solitary  "  has  delighted  thousands  of  homes 
and  readers,  has  just  prepared  another  volume  of  far  greater  vahie,  higher  purpose  and 
of  captivating  beauty.  He  calls  it  "  Evenings  with  the  Sacred  Poets."  and  his  exquisite 
taste,  extensive  reading  and  rare  familiarity  with  bibliography,  shine  in  these  elegant 
pages.  He  roams  through  all  the  realms  of  Poesy,  from  the  earliest  times  to  our  own  : 
wanders  among  all  nations,  and  through  all  climes,  culling  the  sweetest  flowers,  and 
giving  us  all  the  most  brilliant  gems  of  song.  It  is  a  book  to  be  kept  near  at  hand,  for 
refreshment  and  strength,  for  comfort  and  joy ;  and,  when  once  read,  is  all  the  more 
attractive  to  be  read  again."— iV«t<;  Yurk  Observer. 

"  The  requisites  for  the  proper  execution  of  such  a  work  as  this,  are,  good  taste  and 
large  research,  and  these  are  abundantly  manifested  in  this  volume." — Evening  Post. 

•'  This  volume  is  not  only  a  library  of  religious  poetry,  but  it  is  the  best  critical  and 
historical  essay  upon  the  subject  with  which  We  are  acquainted.  The  author  has  already 
won  a  reputation  as  one  of  the  most  scholarly  and  genial  of  critics,  and  as  the  most 
delightful  purveyor  of  really  fresh  and  entertaining  literary  gossip." — N.  Y.  Bound  Table 
'"This  volume  does  something  more  than  string  together  a  number  of  pieces  of  poetry 
more  or  less  known  :  the  author  has  evidently  brought  considerable  research  and  study 
to  the  task  of  presenting  a  complete  picture  of  the  sacred  poetry  and  hymnology  of  the 
christian  ages.  Altogether  we  know  of  no  selection  of  sacred  poetry  so  suitable  for  Sun- 
day reading  as  this.  Not  the  least  of  its  merits  is,  that  it  is  not  likely  to  become  tiresome, 
for  the  comments  of  the  author  give  it  freshness  and  variety." — N.   Y.  Times. 

"  This  book  will  be  hailed  with  great  satisfaction  by  all  lovers  of  sacred  song." 
Christian  Intelligencer. 

"  The  book  in  all  its  parts  is  well  adapted  to  gratify  taste  and  Christian  feeling." 
^.   Y.  Uxaminer  and  Chronicle. 

"  Its  style  adapts  it  to  popular  use,  and  should  ensure  a  wide  circulation  ;  especially 
when  we  remember  the  interest  that  every  one  takes  in  knowing  something  of  the  author 
of  a  favorite  song.  In  this  respect,  we  have  all  that  could  have  been  anticipated  in  a 
work  of  this  character;  the  bits  of  biography  and  anecdote  being  charmingly  given, 
and  deftly  incorporated  in  the  glittering  mosaic.  The  idea  of  the  aiithor  is  an  excellent 
one ;  v/hile  the  result  fills  a  place  in  literature  that  has  hitherto  been  unoccupied." — 
Charlestoivn  (Mass.)  Adv. 

"  1  he  author  has  a  quick  eye  for  whatever  is  beautiful ;  his  "  quiet  talks"  are 
almost  always  interesting,  and  convey  a  pretty  fair  idea  of  the  history  of  religious 
poetry,  and  the  characteristics  of  diflerent  schools.  We  dismiss  the  work  with  cordial 
prais'j  for  its  excellent  spirit  and  general  good  workmanship." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

'•  This  book  is  one  lor  dreamy  reading— a  book  to  take  up  on  a  quiet  Sunday  after- 
noon, when  the  children  are  away  at  Sabbath  school,  and  the  house  is  still  with  that 
peculiar  sacred  stillness,  which  seems  to  imbue  the  very  atmosphere  of  Sabbath — a 
book  to  read  in  snatches,  here  a  little,  and  there  a  little,  with  much  musing  between." — 
Independent. 

"  Beginning  with  the  poetry  of  the  Bible,  Mr.  Saunders  brings  us  down  to  the 
presentday,  culling  from  tlie  sacred  poets  some  of  thc-ir  choicest  verses,  and  giving  U3 
just  enough  to  provoke  a  most  tantalizing  appetite  for  more.' — Ilarper''s  Monthly. 

"Mr.  maunders  has  so  ably  and  satisfactorily  p'Tformed  his  task  that  we  must  not 
withhold  our  meed  of  praise.  He  has  indeed  done  that  for  which  the  thanks  of  Chris- 
tian readers  are  due.  Looked  uj)on  in  the  light  of  a  contribution  to  Christian  literature, 
this  book  deserves  to  live,  since  it  illustrates  what  has  always  been  the  most  powerful 
and  intimate  phase  of  religion — the  expression  by  song.  Those  who  love  pleasant 
things  in  books,  should  get  and  read  this  charming  cluster  of  flowers  of  sacre*"  '>oesy." 
—N.  Y.  Evening  Mail. 

Published  by  A.  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  CO.,  770  Broadway,  X.  T, 

Sent  by  mail,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  price. " 


.« A  dcnnestic  Story,  ^hich  may  he  iaJcen  into  tlie  fa^nih,  v:ith  the  fecUn, 
tut  Uts%i'-.I>,  free  from  the  of.jcctionaUe  features  winch  too  often  cMrac 
terizcs  the  viodcrn  novel." 

UNET'S  LOVE  AND  SERVICE.  By  Margaret 
M  ROBERTSON,  author  of  "Christie;  or  the  Way 
Home."     i2mo.     586  pages.     Bor-Hn  cloth,  §1  75- 

Lis  rarely  tnat  reread  a  story^lnch  jives^us  -  Xu"!^?  m!^  Kobku^ 
little  cause  of  compV.un   as  J««     .  /^^^^^^^^  ,f  cn.phatieally  ^ulcr 

Dowcr.     There  are  no  btinms^'b  uin-i   »>-"•  nctr.te  villains;  no  mnficcut 

6^cene-shiftin<.^s;  i^o  nmrvellous  trans  orm-^  ^^,j,,  ^„d 

angels  cano-ht  in  their  toils;  no  »^^^:^^^/^\>fJt?hc  fall  of  the  curtain  ;  no^clab- 
heroine  Hounder  alike,  to  V*^' ^'  ^^,^^,y  "Is  •  m  a  word,  there  is  no  plot  and  but 
ate  raisuudcrstandin-s  and  torU   ed  ^^^ it^^^^^^^^^  ^     ,„^^  ^1,  y  ,,re  just 

little  incideut.  The  characters  a  e  J  '^^V"  ;^-y,''f  o\i  mav  sec  Mr.  Snow  in  any 
euch  characters  as  you  meet  w  Ih  n  J;"  ^  ^'^^^  Jt  ^  ,i  as'niiuht  he  wrought  out 
N\-w  Eniilaiid  parish.  Graeme  ts  ju.t  buc  ^  ^  J  o""-',^l^'  responsibility  which  con- 
of  ordinary  material,  by  the  ^^]^y^^:^^fl ^"'[^I'-^X^.!^^^^  she  doc^s  not  remain 
Btituted  her  schoohng.  J;"\^'.';^.  J*;  ^i^Vscotch  character  could  And  her  proto- 
servant  Ion-,  «rid  ^•''^'^T"^  ^=  ^'™    :^J.  t^^^^^^^  a  word,  the  portraits  are  al 

type  amon-  his  own  ^•■rel^of  f'^q'^e-^^i^'^"^^^^^^ 

photo-raphl..  If  we  were  told  ^^  f ,  °  ;'"  \^e',,; '  L  The  story  is  as  natural 
Civen  us  only  her  actual  journal  ^^CbhouM^  ^^^^^^^^.^^  ._^,^^t 

as  the  actors.  It  is  the  story  of  just  f  i*.  /^  '"^  -"*  j„  f^^rni  and  style  and  method 
in  the  past,  and  will  again  aiid  ag=i^  ni  the  ff  ^^  ^^  \'  //,,  ,.,,i^„.  i,,,nt  materials 
oftreatmentthevolumeis  ab  simi^le  ab  It  1^^^^^^  ^^^  ^^  downs  m- 

of  which  it  is  composed.    It  ^^  "^t  m  hout    m^or     u  ^^^.j^g  ^cs  of  Yankee 

troduccd  for  the  purpose  of  cri^^ckmg  poor  j^^kc^^  P  \^^.  ^^.^^  ^ 

farmers  and  New  England  ^f'^'^^:}^'l^^^^^^  We  pnty  the  reader  who 

orus.     It  is  charactcn/.ed  by  ""^^bual  pathU  c  p<  n.  ^veepiuL'  heroine,  or 

peruses  its  pages  with  .ti'idimmelejes^Ba  there  ^i^  ^^^^^  ^^  I  :ninister's  life, 
fickly  scntimentalism.  It  i=  a  l^l'"\°;}^  °°^:^'.  ,^^  moralizing  to  l)e  skipped  ;  no 
But  there  are  no  dognras  to  he  ad\  oca^^^^^^  iK-allhful  reli-ion.     So  lar  as 

D^awkish  and  tawdry  pie  y  to  ^^elic  the  cause  of  true,   k  ^^.^_     .^  .^  j^_^^^^ 

Uierc  is  a  moral,  it  is  \ndica  ed  u,  i,c  tjtle.  Sojar  ab  tu  ^^^^  ^^^^  .  n.otherless 
the  Scotch  servant,  who  leaves  "  °Y,>e  is  alwavs  that  of  love-never  that  of  mere 
bairns  of  her  master,  and  ;;^^°*VerThe  aui^^^^^^^^^^^^  ndeefl,  not  be  apt  to  become 
felf-seeldng-neverlmscdou  wagLb    ilic  am^^  sulliciently  large  cn-ele  of 

R  poiralar  novel-writer.  But  ^v  e  tubt  f);^^^^^^  ^^  literature,  as  on  the  stage, 
appreciative  readers  to  encourapr  to  future  woiu.   i  ^^^^  satisfaction  to 

tlie  more  unnatural  the  drama  the  mo  e  popu  an       ^^^^^  ^.^.^  ^^  ^,^^  ^,^^^p 

know  that  there  is  a  public  J '°  P'\^  ^.^  ^ate  melodrama.-iiarpe;-.'  3la;i.izim. 
lire  and  the  sheet-iron  thundei  "^^'^  ^^  ^'^  \' '  ^^.^^^^^^^  „f  ^  Scotch  minister  and 
"A  simple  tale  of  the  struggles  aid  life  incu^^^^^^^         ^  ^.,.^^^  ^.j^jly 

his  family,  who  emigrate  to  ^^^^^^^^  " ncttTe  tm^glcs  of  the  famUy,  with 
depicts  the  habits  and  n'^""'^^^^.?/,"^,^^ 'i'^^^ 

many  popular  iictions."-i2oc-Ae6<tr  Umon.  imitation.     It  is  marked 

>'  Janet's  life  P-.-ts-i  examine  -^/^i    J    ^-^ -It    in  her  si-here  ol 

wilhmanylittlei.K-.dents  ^hI■    try  Ihe^t^^^^^^^^^  ^_^^.  ^  .mmerous  (lass 

active  service,  and  con  aius  .^'^l^i;^^^.^^*;"'^?''' "^f  Hfe  ^^-Chri><tUm  Ubser>jer. 
Of  readei-s  engaged  in  the  ordma  y  ^^'^f^'^"  j;''7^,  ^  „,^    ^,  ,,,,,  ,,,cd  not  no 
^^IMsisastor,ofPmiJym^nd^^t^^^  influence  and  tJ.ai 

beyond  tl,^  honie  M  tojind  an  «^/^f  7^;5f;i  i  Ood-r/im.  work  a>ul  parmed 

^^S:M  Janet  devotesh.li.^totl.w^.^^^^^ 

SallS^SwStill^in-l  uS> '^^^^^^  -  --^  -'  -'^  --'- 

llie  Idle  lb  lu  rri"itures  "—Eimcopahaii. 

able  to  their  feUow-creaiurLb.  i        i  ,  v     v 

l.„b.Ul...d  ky  A.  1..  1-.  IIANDOLPII  i  ((>..  "0  Bro..a„.y,  N.  \. , 

tieid  by  mail,  prq)aid,  on  receipt  ofpnce. 


Princeton   Theological   Seminary   Libraries 


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